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INDIAN    AND    WHITE 
IN    THE    NORTHWEST 


The   Rev.   Anthony   Ravalli,   S.J. 

PASTOR   OF    ST.    MARY'S    MISSION,   FIRST    CHURCH    IN    MONTANA 


INDIAN   AND   WHITE 
IN   THE   NORTHWEST 


A  HISTORY  OF  CATHOLICITY  IN 

MONTANA 

1831    to    1891 


By 

L.  B.  PALLADINO,  S.  J. 

WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 

Right  Reverend  John  B.  Brondel,  D.D. 

FIRST  BISHOP  OF  HELENA 


WITH  PORTRAITS  &  OTHER  ILLUSTRATIONS 


SECOND  EDITION  REVISED  AND  ENLARGED 


WICKERSHAM  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

LANCASTER,    PA. 

1922 


Imprimi  Potest 

F.  C.  DILLON,  S.  J. 

Provincialis,  Prov.  Calif. 
San  Jose,  Calif.,  1  Nov.  1922 

Nihil  Obstat 

J.  M.  CORRIGAN 

Censor  Librorum 

Imprimatur 

D.  CARDINAL  DOUGHERTY 

Archbishop  of  Philadephia 


Copyrighted,  1922 

WICKERSHAM  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
■I  ANCASTER,  PA. 


IN  AFFECTIONATE  REMEMBRANCE 
OF  THE  RIGHT  REVEREND 

John  B.  Brondel,  D.D. 

FIRST    BISHOP    OF    HELENA,    MONTANA 


THIS     HISTORY     OF     HIS     FOLD 
IS    RESPECTFULLY    DEDICATED 


INTRODUCTION 

IT  DOES  not  usually  happen  that  a  historian  can  relate  the 
primitive  times  of  a  barbarous  country,  not  less  than  its  com- 
plete transformation  by  the  hand  and  magic  touch  of  progress, 
and  be  likewise  a  personal  witness  of  both  its  civilization  and 
barbarism.  Such,  however,  is  the  case  with  the  writer  of  the 
first  History  of  Catholicity  in  Montana. 

An  old-timer  among  the  old-timers,  the  Reverend  author 
speaks  whereof  he  knows.  He  has  lived  among  the  natives; 
has  conversed  with  the  first  priests  who,  preceding  the  gold- 
seeker  by  twenty-two  years,  shared  with  the  red  man  his  dried 
buffalo  meat,  his  wild  roots  and  berries;  and  where  he  saw  the 
nomad's  wigwam  stand,  he  saw  alike  the  palatial  mansion  rise. 
The  howling  wilderness  has  blossomed  under  his  eyes. 

It  has  been  with  him  a  labor  of  love,  for  over  two  years,  each 
day  deep  into  the  night,  to  collect  the  authentic  documents, 
compare  and  study  statements  made,  so  far  as  to  be  accurate 
in  relating  events  and  stating  dates,  which  make  a  history  reliable. 
And  as  a  book  which  holds  the  dead  letter  becomes  almost  living 
by  the  pictures  of  those  it  describes,  the  author  has  doubled  the 
value  of  his  work  by  many  photogravures  which  adorn  its  pages. 
Whilst  a  welcome  and  valuable  addition  to  the  history  of  the 
country,  the  new  book  will  be  a  surprise  to  many  who  still  con- 
sider Montana  as  belonging  to  the  "Wild  West."  May  its  pages 
prove  once  more  that  Christianity  and  civilization  go  hand  in 
hand  and  produce  the  happiest  results. 

The  reading  of  this  volume  will  give  reliable  information 
concerning  the  growth  of  our  State  from  an  American  desert 
into  a  flourishing  commonwealth,  and  will  show  at  the  same 
time  what  a  factor  Catholicity  was  in  the  building  up  of  Mon- 
tana, admitted  to-day  to  be  the  richest  gold  and  silver  producer 
in  the  country,  and  to  contain  the  biggest  mining  camp  in  the 
world. 


viii  INTRODUCTION 

I  hope  the  volume  may  be  perused  with  great  profit  by  all 
who  love  material  progress  and  spiritual  growth.  It  will  be 
interesting  especially  to  those  who  study  the  nature  of  man, 
whether  in  his  barbarous  or  civilized  condition. 

John  B.  Brondel, 

Bishop  of  Helena. 

Bishop's  House,  Helena,  Montana 

November  18,  1922. 
Rev.  L.  B.  Palladino,  S.J., 

Missoula,  Montana. 
Dear  Father  Palladino: 

It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  learn  that  the  long-expected  sec- 
ond edition  of  Inldian  and  White  in  the  Northwest  is  at  last 
about  to  appear.  I  congratulate  you  on  preserving  for  future 
generations  invaluable  historical  information  on  the  origin  and 
progress  of  Christianity  and  civilization  in  Montana.  The  people 
of  our  State  will,  I  am  sure,  show  their  appreciation  of  your 
untiring  efforts  by  securing  for  your  book  a  place  on  the  shelves 
of  every  family,  school  and  public  library. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

John  P.  Carroll, 

Bishop  of  Helena. 

Great  Falls,  Montana,  October  9,  1922. 
Dear  Father  Palladino  : 

I  am  pleased  to  learn  that  you  are  publishing  a  second  edition 
of  Indian  and  White  in  the  Northwest. 

Since  it  was  the  illustrious  Father  P.  J.  De  Smet,  S.J.,  who 
was  the  first  missionary  to  bring  the  consoling  doctrines  of  our 
holy  religion  to  the  aborigines  of  the  Rocky  Mountains;  and 
since  it  was  the  valiant  and  learned  sons  of  St.  Ignatius,  assisted 
by  the  equally  valiant  and  pious  Sisters  of  Charity  of  Providence 
and  Ursuline  Nuns,  who  opened  the  pioneer  missions  both  for 
the  Indians  and  whites  in  Montana,  it  is  only  becoming  that  you, 
one  of  the  oldest  missionaries  in  Montana,  and  a  member  of  the 
Jesuit  Order,  should  publish  a  reliable  history  of  the  early  mis- 
sions and  parishes,  and  the  marvelous  growth  of  Catholicity  in 
our  Treasure  State. 

Your  great  work  on  these  most  interesting  events  will  be  con- 


INTRODUCTION  ix 

sidered  authentic  church  history  and  will  be  a  valuable  acquisition 
to  any  library. 

I  hereby  subscribe  for  fifty  copies  of  your  new  volume,  Indian 
and  White  in  the  Northwest,  and  wish  you  every  blessing. 

Faithfully  yours, 

Mathias  C.  Lenihan, 

Bishop  of  Great  Falls. 

Montana  State  Historical  Society 

Helena,  Montana,  October  17,  1922. 
Rev.  L.  B.  Palladino,  S.J., 

Missoula,  Montana. 
Dear  Friend, 

I  am  very  glad  to  learn  that  a  revised  edition  of  your  Indian 
and  White  in  the  Northwest,  or  a  History  of  Catholicity  in 
Montana,  on  which  you  have  been  engaged  for  some  years  is 
soon  to  appear  and  I  bespeak  for  it  a  warm  and  appreciative 
reception,  to  which  it  is  entitled  by  the  public  of  Montana  and  in 
fact  the  reading  public  of  all  the  Western  States. 

The  original  edition,  published  nearly  thirty  years  ago  and 
now  out  of  print,  was  a  valuable  contribution  of  a  pioneer  and 
of  a  scholar  in  telling  the  story  of  the  spreading  of  the  word  of 
God  among  the  aboriginal  and  white  inhabitants  of  this  Empire 
State  of  the  West,  of  which  the  writer  could  truly  say,  "all  of 
which  I  saw  and  much  of  which  I  was."  And  the  story  of  the 
labors  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  and  of  the  Catholic  Church  in 
that  vineyard  is  one  which  will  always  be  read  with  absorbing 
interest. 

The  persistent  desire  of  the  Selish  or  Flat  Head  Indians  for 
the  white  man's  Bible  during  the  decade  of  the  '30's,  and  its 
gratification  by  Father  De  Smet  and  his  missionary  labors  in 
1840  and  with  the  establishment  of  St.  Mary's  Mission  in  the 
Bitter  Root  Valley  the  next  year  and  its  subsequent  history,  and 
the  history  of  the  Church  for  more  than  fifty  years  so  graphically 
portrayed,  entitle  it  to  renewed  interest  which  I  am  sure  it  will 
receive. 

Please  record  the  State  Historical  Society  and  myself  per- 
sonally among  the  subscribers  of  your  forthcoming  volume. 

With  assurances  of  renewed  friendship,  I  am, 

Very  sincerely, 

J.  U.  Sanders,   Secretary. 


PREFACE  TO  FIRST  EDITION 

Rosary  Sunday,  October  4,  1891,  marked  the  Golden  Jubilee 
or  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  establishment  of  the  first  Cath- 
olic Mission  in  Montana.  By  pastoral  letters  to  the  clergy,  the 
religious  communities,  and  laity  of  the  diocese,  the  Right  Rev. 
John  B.  Brondel,  Bishop  of  Helena,  called  the  attention  of  all 
the  members  of  his  fold  to  the  happy  event,  and  pursuant  to  his 
Lordship's  directions  it  was  fittingly  observed  throughout  the 
whole  of  Montana,  state  and  diocese  being  coextensive. 

A  record  of  Catholicity  in  Montana  during  the  half  century 
just  closed,  apart  from  its  timeliness,  seemed  to  be  called 
forth,  even  demanded,  by  the  occasion,  and  we  were  requested 
to  assume  the  task. 

The  establishment  and  progress  of  Catholicity  in  the  North- 
west will  ever  be  reckoned  among  the  remarkable  events  of  the 
century,  while  the  circumstances  leading  to  the  fact,  or  attendant 
upon  it,  spiced  with  adventure  and  haloed  with  a  tinge  of 
romance,  have  enhanced  by  additional  interest  the  more  than 
local  importance  of  the  subject. 

A  brief  historical  sketch,  a  mere  outline  of  the  Church  in 
our  midst,  is  all  that  was  contemplated  at  first.  On  second 
thought,  however,  it  seemed  that  nothing  else  than  an  extended 
and  particularized  narrative  would  meet  the  wish  of  the  Catholic 
community  and  satisfy  the  reading  public.  Accordingly  we  were 
directed  to  enter  more  fully  into  the  subject,  and  prepare  a  com- 
plete history  of  Catholicity  in  Montana,  from  its  beginning  to 
the  close  of  1891. 

This  was  a  greater  task  than  we  felt  able  to  accomplish, 
and  to  do  it  justice,  besides,  would  require  more  time  and  leisure 
for  research  and  collection  of  materials  than  our  missionary 
duties  left  at  our  disposal.  Notwithstanding  these  serious  objec- 
tions on  our  part,  we  could  not  but  defer  to  persons  whose  wish 


The  Rev.  Lawrence  B.  Palladino,  S.J. 

MISSIONARY  —  PASTOR  —  HISTORIAN 


PREFACE   TO  FIRST  EDITION  xi 

we  regarded  as  a  command.  Hence  our  venture  into  the  field  of 
history,  and  this  volume  now,  at  last,  presented  to  the  public. 

Following  the  natural  order  and  division  of  our  theme,  the 
work  is  divided  into  two  parts;  the  First  Part  being  devoted 
to  the  Church  among  the  natives  or  Indians;  while  the  Second 
Part  treats  of  its  labors  among  the  whites.  The  nature  of  the 
subject  has  likewise  suggested  the  title  of  the  book. 

It  was  not  possible  to  relate  what  Religion  has  done  to  lift 
the  Indian  from  barbarism  in  Montana,  without  entering  at  the 
same  time,  and  at  some  length,  into  a  matter  intimately  con- 
nected with,  and  of  vital  interest  to  the  welfare,  temporal  and 
spiritual,  of  the  red  man — we  mean  his  education,  and  the  meth- 
ods best  suited  to  encompass  it.  The  question  has  occupied  pub- 
lic attention  of  late  more  than  usual,  while  recent  events  have 
also  greatly  accentuated  its  importance.  We  express  our  views 
on  the  subject  with  all  candor  and  frankness,  and  would  fain 
believe  that  years  of  personal  observation  and  experience  entitle 
us  somewhat  to  the  privilege. 

We  take  this  occasion  to  express  our  gratitude  to  several 
friends  who  have  either  encouraged  or  assisted  us  in  the  compila- 
tion of  this  volume.  We  tender  particularly  our  thanks  to 
Colonel  W.  M.  F.  Wheeler,  Librarian  of  the  Historical  Society 
of  Montana,  for  valuable  information  and  historical  documents 
kindly  placed  at  our  disposal ;  also  to  the  Rev.  Arthur  E.  Jones, 
S.J.,  of  St.  Mary's  College,  Montreal ;  the  Rev.  A.  Hoecken, 
S.J.,  of  St.  Gall,  Milwaukee;  the  Rev.  F.  X.  Kuppens,  S.J. ; 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Sherman,  S.J.,  of  St.  Louis  University.  Like- 
wise to  Mother  Xavier  Ross,  and  others  for  similar  favors. 

Lastly,  whatever  is  written  in  this  book  is  meant  to  be  in 

entire    conformity    and    submission    to    ecclesiastical    authority. 

Facts,  therefore,  that  may  appear  to  present  any  mark  of  being 

supernatural,  are  hereby  declared  to  be  entitled  to  no  more  faith 

than  is  due  to  mere  historical  evidence;  and  such  terms  as  may 

seem  to  imply  sanctity,  martyrdom  and  the  like,  are  used  by  us 

merely  for  convenience  sake,  and  without  in  the  least  attaching 

to  them  any  meaning  that  the  official  acts  of  the  Church  alone 

can  authorize. 

L.  B.  Palladino,  S.J. 

Helena,  Montana,  Feast  of  the  Assumption  of  Our  Blessed  Lady,  1893. 


PREFACE  TO  SECOND  EDITION 

Indian  and  White  in  the  Northwest  having  been  out  of  print 
for  nearly  two  decades,  the  author  received  directions  to  prepare 
a  new  edition.  He  has  done  so,  and  after  devoting  some  four 
years  to  the  task,  the  work,  revised  and  enlarged,  is  now  pre- 
sented to  the  public. 

Owing  to  considerable  new  matter  which,  for  one  reason  or 
another,  did  not  appear  in  the  first  issue,  the  work  has  been  recast 
and  almost  entirely  rewritten.  But  the  plan  originally  adopted 
has  not  been  departed  from.  Except  in  some  few  cases  indicated 
below,  no  departure  has  been  made  from  the  time  limit  of  the 
narrative,  which  runs  as  before  from  183 1  to  1891,  just  sixty 
years.  Therefore,  the  more  recent  portion  of  the  history  of 
Catholicity  in  Montana  is  not  recounted  in  these  pages.  It  is 
touched  upon  here  and  there,  but  only  incidentally,  and  no  more 
than  seemed  required  for  a  proper  rounding  out  of  the  original 
work. 

The  reader's  attention  is  called  in  a  special  manner  to  the 
third  chapter  of  Part  One,  entitled  "A  Correction."  It  is  made 
necessary  by  an  error  into  which  the  writer  was  misled  in  the 
first  edition.  It  will  be  seen,  however,  that  the  error  has  proved 
a  gain.  For  it  has  brought  about  a  clearer  vindication  of  the  Flat 
Head  claim  to  the  first  expedition  sent  to  Saint  Louis  after  Black 
Robes,  in  1831.  And  that  one  fact  is  the  most  important  event 
in  the  history  of  Catholicity  in  Montana  and  the  whole  Northwest. 

Chapter  twenty-sixth,  also  Part  One,  explains  itself,  as  a  new 
and  interesting  addition  to  the  local  chronicle  of  Saint  Peter's 
Mission. 

It  seemed  befitting  that  this  new  edition  should  contain  a  last 
and  due  reference  to  the  pioneers  who  made  the  history  which  is 
here  narrated,  and  have  passed  away  since  this  chronicle  was  first 
published.  The  writer  does  this  in  the  last  chapter  of  the  Second 
Part,  which  thus  brings  up  to  date  at  least  a  small  portion  of  his 
subject;  and  this,  as  is  obvious,  not  inconsistently  with  the  time 
limit  of  the  narrative. 

It  is  not  ancient  history  that  the  author  has  gathered  in  these 


PREFACE  TO  SECOND  EDITION  xiii 

pages.  He  writes  of  things,  times,  events,  in  the  midst  of  most 
of  which  it  fell  to  his  lot  to  live  and  move.  And  since  historical 
truth  is  never  established  better  than  by  the  testimony  of  eye- 
witnesses, nothing  could  be  more  unhistorical  than  for  a  chroni- 
cler to  suppress  either  himself  or  the  fact  of  his  having  been  an 
ocular  witness  of  what  he  narrates.  For  it  is  manifest  that  by 
so  doing  he  would  detract  much  from  the  evidence  of  his  narra- 
tive; and  whilst  plain,  simple  truth  is  the  very  soul  of  history, 
just  think  of  an  historian  lessening  the  credibility  of  what  he 
writes  by  suppressing  what  would  best  evince  the  truthfulness 
of  his  story. 

This  second  edition  is  hardly  such  as  can  be  called  complete. 
It  is  certainly  defective  in  that  it  does  not  take  in,  with  the  rest, 
also  the  more  recent  part  of  the  history  of  Catholicity  in  Montana. 
The  blame,  however,  can  hardly  be  placed  at  the  writer's  door; 
his  predicament  in  this  regard  having  been  pretty  much  like  that 
of  the  Jews  of  old,  who,  while  required  to  furnish  their  task 
of  bricks,  were  not  supplied  with  the  straw  needed  for  the  work. 

Lastly,  to  avoid  misapprehensions,  seeming  anachronisms  and 
the  like,  the  reader  is  requested  to  bear  well  in  mind  that  dates 
not  specified  by  year  have  reference  to  and  are  to  be  reckoned, 
not  from  the  time  of  this  new  edition,  but  from  that  of  the  first. 

Because  of  the  World  War  and  other  difficulties,  the  publica- 
tion of  the  work  had  to  be  postponed  until  the  present. 

It  will  be  remarked  that  the  number  of  cuts  in  this  edition  has 
been  considerably  reduced.    This  was  done  ( i )  to  save  expense ; 

(2)  we  could  not  obtain  original  photographs  in  many  cases; 

(3)  the  local  history  of  Montana  is  much  better  known  than  it 
was  twenty-eight  years  ago  and  there  is  proportionately  less  need 
of  corroborating  our  narrative  with  illustrations. 

We  must  add  to  the  list  of  those  who  have  been  a  help  to  us 
the  following:  Mr.  John  D.  Ryan,  of  New  York,  through 
whose  splendid  generosity,  serious  financial  obstacles  were  over- 
come ;  the  Honorable  Joseph  M.  Dixon,  Governor  of  Montana ; 
Mr.  A.  B.  Hammond,  of  San  Francisco;  Mrs.  Ellen  Carter, 
of  Washington,  D.  C. ;  the  Rev.  William  Hughes,  Director  of 
the  Catholic  Indian  Bureau;  Mr.  J.  T.  Ryman,  of  Missoula, 
Mont.;  many  of  the  newspapers  of  the  State  and  the  Catholic 

press  throughout  the  country. 

The  Author. 

Missoula,  Mont.,  October  15,  1922. 


PASTORAL  LETTER 

OF  THE  RIGHT  REVEREND  JOHN   B.   BRONDEL,   BISHOP  OF   HELENA, 

ON  THE  OCCASION  OF  THE  FIFTIETH  ANNIVERSARY 

OF  THE  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  FIRST  CATHOLIC  MISSION 

IN  MONTANA 

John  Baptist  Brondel,  by  the  Grace  of  God  and  Favor  of  the 
Apostolic  See,  Bishop  of  Helena,  to  the  Clergy,  both  Secular 
and  Regular,  the  Religious  Communities  and  the  Faithful 
of  our  Diocese,  Greeting  in  the  Lord. 

On  the  first  Sunday  of  October,  the  Feast  of  the  Most  Holy 
Rosary,  we  will  celebrate  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  first  Catholic  Mission  in  Montana.  It  was  on 
that  day,  1841,  that  the  first  Mass  was  celebrated  at  St.  Mary's 
Mission  in  the  Bitter  Root  Valley,  Montana,  Missoula  County, 
where  Stevensville  is  now  situated. 

Father  Peter  De  Smet,  S.J.,  at  the  repeated  requests  of  the 
Flat  Head  Indians,  had  visited  the  country  from  St.  Louis,  Mo., 
the  previous  year.  He  returned,  in  1841,  accompanied  by  Fathers 
Point  and  Mengarini  and  three  Lay  Brothers  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  and  began  mission  work  among  the  Indians  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  Of  this  first  band  of  missionaries  one  survives, 
Brother  W.  Claessens,  living  at  present  at  Sta.  Clara,  California. 
We  may  form  an  idea  of  what  they  went  through  when  they 
came  to  these  regions  and  lived  here,  and  traveled  over  these 
mountains ;  when  civilization  was  not  in  existence  and  when 
the  savages  and  the  wild  beasts  roamed  freely  over  the  land. 
We  may  also  conceive  what  an  element  they  formed  in  the  found- 
ing of  civilization,  as  they  were  always  on  the  side  of  religion 
and  social  order.  If  to-day  there  is  no  Indian  tribe  that  has  not 
its  churches  and  schools,  if  there  is  no  community  that  has  not 
its  Catholic  church,  if  there  is  no  town  of  some  importance  that 
has  not  its  churches,  schools  and  hospitals,  it  is  due  in  great 
measure  to  these  heroic  pioneers  of  Christianity. 


PASTORAL  LETTER  xv 

It  is  proper  that  we  should  celebrate  this  golden  jubilee  of 
Montana's  Catholicity,  by  thanking  God  for  the  graces  of  the 
true  faith  bestowed  upon  the  aborigines,  and  for  those  as  well 
granted  to  the  white  population  that  has  poured  into  the  land 
during  the  later  years.  Gratitude  to  God  for  past  blessings 
obtains  new  ones.  We  need  the  perseverance  of  the  faithful,  we 
need  the  conversion  of  the  sinner,  we  need  the  light  of  faith  for 
those  who  are  still  resting  in  the  shadow  and  darkness  of  unbelief. 
To  obtain  all  these  favors  and  to  render  thanks  in  an  appropriate 
manner  to  the  Giver  of  all  good  gifts,  we  invite  the  people  to 
receive  the  sacraments  of  penance  and  holy  Communion  on 
Rosary  Sunday. 

By  our  direction  the  Te  Deum  will  be  sung  at  the  end  of  the 
divine  service  either  in  the  morning  or  in  the  evening  of  that 
day,  and  the  prayer  of  thanksgiving  is  to  be  said  every  day  at 
Mass  during  the  month  of  October.  We  further  desire  that  the 
sermon  on  that  occasion  have  for  its  subject,  "Catholic  Mis- 
sions."    *     *     * 

John  B.  Brondel, 

Bishop  of  Helena. 


CONTENTS 


Part  I. 

CHAPTER  pAGE 

I.  THE    FLAT    HEADS ! 

II.  THEIR    FIRST    NOTIONS   OF   CHRISTIANITY ..."  7 

III.  A  CORRECTION    j, 

IV.  RIVALS   OF   THE    BLACK    ROBES '.'.'.'.'.  20 

V.  CATHOLIC    MISSIONARIES    AGAIN    SENT    FOR 25 

VI.  FATHER  DE   SMET  VISITS   THE  FLAT   HEADS 30 

VII.  FATHER  DE   SMET  RETURNS yj 

viii.  st.  mary's,  first  mission  in  Montana 41 

ix.  the  buffalo  chase  and  the  missionaries 48 

x.  first  grist  mill  in  montana "  58 

xi.  father  joseph  giorda  and  father  a.  ravalli 64 

xii.  charlot  and  the  garfield  treaty jj 

xiii.  st.  ignatius,  second  mission  in  montana 91 

xiv.  educating  and  civilizing  the  indian .[[[  104 

XV.  CONTRACT     SCHOOLS      io5 

XVI.  SCHOOLS  AND  TRAINING  NEEDED  FOR  INDIAN   YOUTH II3 

XVII.  NON-SECTARIANISM    IN    INDIAN   EDUCATION 121 

XVIII.  THE  FIRST   SISTERS    IN    MONTANA I38 

XIX.  AUTHOR'S  FIRST  EXPERIENCE  OF  INDIAN   MISSIONS I48 

XX.  INDIAN    BOYS'    SCHOOL    AND    KINDERGARTEN 158 

XXI.  SENATOR  VEST  AND  THE  SCHOOLS  AT  ST.  IGNATIUS l66 

XXII.  THE  REV.  JAMES  RAZZINI   AT  ST.   IGNATIUS '.'.  170 

XXIII.  AGRICULTURE    AND     MATERIAL     PROSPERITY 1 73 

XXIV.  ST.  IGNATIUS    MISSION,   CONCLUDED '  '  ijg 

xxv.  st.  peter's,  third  mission  in  Montana 185 

XXVI.  NEW    LABORERS    ][  igj 

XXVII.  CLOSING  OF  ST.   PETER'S   MISSION 2o8 

XXVIII.  ITS  RE-OPENING.      FATHER  PHILIP  RAPPAGLIOSI 214 

XXIX.  STARVATION   AMONG   THE    PIEGANS.       SCHOOLS 224 

XXX.  HOLY    FAMILY    MISSIQN    AND    SCHOOLS 228 

xxxi.  st.  Paul's  mission 2-,0 

XXXII.  MISSION   OF    ST.   LABRE 236,  245 

XXXIII.  ST.    XAVIER'S.      THE   CROW   INDIANS '25 1 

XXXIV.  ST.   XAVIER'S,  CONCLUDED 250 

XXXV.  SUMMARY  AND  RETROSPECT [[][  ~2(yi 

Part  II. 

I.  EXPLORERS   AND   FIRST   WHITE   SETTLERS 28l 

II.  CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTICAL  ORGANIZATION _'  289 

III.  FIRST   MISSIONS   AMONG  THE    WHITES "  295 

IV.  FORT   BENTON     \  2QQ 

V.  MISSION  OF  VIRGINIA   CITY ?Qfr 

VI.  LAST  CHANCE  OR  HELENA -jj  c 

VII  &  VIII.  FIRST  SISTERHOOD  FOR  THE  WHITES 328 

IX.  DEER  LODGE   MISSION \\     '  ^Q 


XV111 


CONTENTS 


X.      DEPENDENCIES  OF  DEER   LODGE   MISSION 345 

XI.      BUTTE   AND   DILLON 349 

XII.      MISSOULA    MISSION     357 

XIII.      FRENCHTOWN  MISSION 3&5 

XIV.       SUN    RIVER,    LEWISTOWN,    GREAT    FALLS 391 

XV.       MERCY    WORK    OF    THE    SISTERS 39^ 

XVI.      FIRST    EPISCOPAL    VISITATION 4°7 

XVII.       SOME    HANGINGS    AND    OTHER    INCIDENTS 415 

XVIII.      ARCHBISHOP    SEGHERS    IN     MONTANA 422 

XIX.      BISHOP    BRONDEL     425 

XX.      DIOCESE   OF    HELENA 429 

XXI.      DIOCESAN    SYNODS    434 

XXII.  BOULDER,      THREE     FORKS,      BOZEMAN,      WHITE      SULPHUR      SPRINGS, 

MARYSVILLE      44° 

XXIII.  MILES   CITY,   GLENDIVE,   BILLINGS,   LIVINGSTON 444 

XXIV.  CEMETERIES      45° 

XXV.      YEARS    OF    GRACE 453 

XXVI.      THE   GOOD    SHEPHERD   ORDER   IN    HELENA 458 

XXVII.      NOTABLE    PIONEERS    463 

XXVIII.      SOME    OF    THE    DEPARTED 473 

APPENDIX  : 

I.      EARLY   CATHOLICITY   IN    MONTANA,    BY   L.    F.   LA    CROIX 492 

II.      LETTER   OF   THE    HON.    THOMAS    H.    CARTER,    U.    S.    SENATOR 496 

III.      LETTER  OF   MAJOR   H.    M.   CHITTENDEN,   U.    S.    A 497 

IV.      LETTER    OF    ARCHBISHOP    IRELAND 498 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL    REFERENCES     5°° 

INDEX       502 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

THE    MOST    REVEREND    CHARLES   J.    SEGHERS,    D.D 424 

THE    RIGHT    REVERENED    JOHN    B.    BRONDEL,     D.D 424 

THE    RIGHT    REVERENED    MATHIAS    C.    LENIHAN,    D.D 488 

MONSIGNOR    PETER    DESIERE     340 

THE    REVEREND    HONORE    B.    ALLAEYES     (GROUP)      430 

"  "  FRANCIS     X.     BATENS     442 

"  AMAT     A.     COOPMAN      442 

"  "  REMIGIUS      DE     RYCKERE      340 

"  "  JOHN   J.   DOLS    (GROUP) 432 

"  "  CHARLES     G.     FOLLET     (GROUP)      436 

A.     H.     LAMBAERE     (GROUP)      436 

"  "  E.    W.   J.    LINDESMITH     (GROUP)     432 

"  "  CYRIL   PAUWELYN     352 

L.    F.    TREMBLAY     (GROUP) 432 

H.   VAN    DE    VEN     (GROUP) 43° 

"  "  J.   B.   VENNEMAN    352 

FIRST  DIOCESAN   SYNOD    432 

THIRD     DIOCESAN     SYNOD      43" 

THE  REVEREND   PETER   J.   DE  SMET,   S.J 32 

PETER    BARCELO,    S.J.     (GROUP)     432 

JOSEPH     M.     CATALDO,    S.J 3| 

"  "  RAPHAEL    CRIMONT,    S.J.     (GROUP)      430 

"  "  JOSEPH     DAMIANI,     S.J 72 

"  "  JEROME     D'ASTE,     S.J 72 

ALEXANDER    DIOMEDI,     S.J.     (GROUP)      430 

"  "  FREDERIC   EBERSCHWEILER,    S.J.    (GROUP) 432 

"  "  JOSEPH     GIORDA,     S.J 308 

"  "  JOSEPH    GUIDI,     S.J.     (GROUP)      432 

"  "  CAMILLUS    IMODA,    S.J.    (GROUP)     432 

"  "  J.    MENETREY,    S.J.     (GROUP) 432 

"  "  laurence  B.  PALLADiNO,   s.j Preface 

anthony    ravalli,    s.j Frontispiece 

"  "  JAMES  REBMAN.N,    S.J T^4 

"  "  ALOYSIUS    VAN    DER    VELDEN,     S.J J04 

"  "  LEOPOLD   VAN   GORP,    S.J 300 

BROTHER  JOSEPH  CARIGNANO,  S.J 370 

BROTHER    WILLIAM    CLAESSENS,     S.J 9° 

MOTHER   AMADEUS 247 

CARON     3°4 

"  MARY    JULIAN     3°4 

"  JOSEPHA      330 

"  PERPETUA     247 

SISTER     JULIA      33 

THE   HONORABLE   GEORGE  G.   VEST,    U.    S.   S I00 

"  "  THOMAS    H.    CARTER,    U.    S.    S r°0 

"  "  JOSEPH    K.    TOOLE,    GOVERNOR     T£0 

THOMAS     CRUSE      4°4 

DANIEL   HENNESSY    4«4 


xx  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

major  peter  ronan  156 

mrs.  matilda  galen   472 

mrs.  mary  louisa  hanratty    472 

mrs.  ellen    nagle    472 

war  chief  alee  84 

two  indian  braves,  after  a  painting  by  george  catlin  13 

chief  charlot  and  family   88 

father  and  sons,  st.  ignatius  mission  i28 

flat  head  family    48 

crow  chiefs  248 

crow  indian  reservation  266 

chief  plenty  coues  of  the  crows 256 

piegan  chiefs   204 

cheyenne   family    88 

st.  mary's,  sketch  of  the  original  mission  44 

present   church    44 

stones  of  first  grist  mill  in  montana  00 

monument  to  father  ravalli  76 

st.  ignatius  : 

first  residence  of  the  missionaries   104 

saw  mill  and  grist  mill  96 

workshops  and  prlntery   104 

buffaloes  in  the  mission  valley   48 

st.  peter's  mission,  diagrams  by  father  kuppens  197,  iq9.  20o 

st.  paul's  mission,  class  of  calisthenics 128 

st.  xavier's  church,  crow  indian  mission i28 

anaconda,  st.  paul's  church   344 

billlngs,  st.  joachim's  church  344 

boulder  valley,  st.  john's  church  440 

bozeman,  church  of  the  most  holy  rosary 440 

deer  lodge,  church  of  the  immaculate  conception 384 

frenchtown,  church  and  rectory  of  st.  john  the  baptist   384 

glendive,  st.  Juliana's  church   452 

granite,  st.  andrew's  church 392 

great  falls,  priests  of  the  diocese  488 

st.  ann's  church,  great  falls   392 

helena,  present  cathedral    3l6 

st.  Helena's  church   320 

hangman's    tree     332 

hell's  gate,  st.  Michael's,  first  church  for  whites  in  mo,ntana 320 

lewistown,  st.  leo's  church  444 

livingston,  st.  mary's  church  444 

marysville,  church  of  our  lady  of  lourdes  44§ 

miles  city,  church  of  the  sacred  heart  448 

missoula,  st,  francis  xavier's  church    (interior)    376 

three  forks,  church  of  the  holy  family  452 

*  Most  of  the  illustrations  used  in  this  volume  are  impressions  from  cuts  that  appeared 
in  the  first  edition.  The  original  photographs  and  plates  were  destroyed  in  the  big  fire 
that  visited  Baltimore  a  few  years  ago,  and  could  not  be  replaced. 


Indian  and  White  in  the  Northwest 

PART  I. 


K 


Chapter  I. 

THE   FLAT   HEADS  OR  SELISH.* 

MONG  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  there  is 

Lnone  more  renowned  in  modern  history  than  the  Selish, 
commonly  known  as  Flat  Heads.  But  how  they  came  by  such  a 
name  is  a  mystery  even  to  themselves.  The  barbarous  custom  of 
flattening  the  head,  implied  by  the  appellation  and  practiced  by 
the  natives  on  the  Sound  and  along  the  Pacific  Coast,  never 
existed  among  them.  Their  heads  are  normal  and  shapely,  and 
therefore  the  name  Flat  Heads  in  its  obvious  meaning  and  literal 
sense  cannot  be  applied  to  them,  save  as  a  misnomer  or  a  libel. 

However,  since  they  are  known  to  the  outside  world  only  as 
Flat  Heads  and  have  become  famed  under  that  name,  we  cannot 
but  follow  the  custom  and  use  the  same  appellation. 

The  country  of  these  Indians  was  that  part  of  western  Mon- 
tana which  lies  at  the  base  of  the  main  range  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, and  is  comprised  today  in  Ravalli  County.  They  called  it 
in  their  language  Spetlemen,  which  means  the  place  of  the  bitter 
root,  whence  the  name  of  the  Bitter  Root  Valley.  This  section 
was  properly  their  home.  At  times,  however,  for  hunting  and 
trading  purposes,  they  could  be  found  roaming  about,  like  other 
Indians,  in  almost  any  part  of  the  Northwest. 

Though  in  bygone  days  and  previous  to  their  becoming  known 
to  the  civilized  world  they  must  have  been  more  numerous,  there 
seems  to  be  no  indication  that  they  ever  constituted  a  large  com- 
munity. When  our  missionaries  arrived  among  them,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  tribe,  all  told,  did  not  exceed  seven  hundred  souls. 

But  if  inferior  in  numbers  to  many  of  the  other  tribes  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  they  seem  to  have  surpassed  them  all  in 
prowess  and  daring,  and  as  a  warlike  people  they  were  considered 
even  by  their  enemies  the  bravest  of  the  brave.    Owing,  however, 

*  The  Indian  sound  of  e  in  Selish  is  that  of  long  English  a  in  fate,  or  as 
if  the  word  were  written  Sehlish. 


2  INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

to  their  endless  hostilities  and  deadly  conflicts  with  other  tribes, 
who  greatly  outnumbered  them,  and  who,  besides,  were  better 
equipped  for  war,  our  Flat  Heads  often  met  with  reverses  and, 
despite  their  bravery,  were  constantly  being  reduced  in  numbers. 

Their  deadly  foes  from  time  immemorial  were  the  Blackfeet 
tribes,  living  in  what  is  now  northern  Montana,  and  the  cause 
of  their  perpetual  warfare,  the  bone  of  contention,  was  the 
buffalo.  The  Blackfeet  claimed  as  their  own  all  the  country  east 
of  the  main  range,  the  home  of  innumerable  herds  of  buffalo, 
and  looked  upon  the  Flat  Heads  who  resorted  thither  to  hunt, 
as  intruders,  whom  they  should  keep  off  at  any  cost.  The  Flat 
Heads,  on  the  other  hand,  maintained  that  their  forefathers  had 
always  exercised  the  right  of  hunting  on  these  disputed  grounds, 
and  while  one  of  their  warriors  remained  alive  the  right  should 
not  be  surrendered.  In  these  continual  and  desperate  encounters 
the  Flat  Heads,  being  the  weaker  in  numbers,  were  frequently 
also  the  greater  sufferers. 

Another  advantage  that  the  Blackfeet  had  over  the  Flat  Heads 
was  the  use  of  firearms,  which  the  former  obtained  from  the 
so-called  Forts  des  Prairies  or  trading  posts  established  east  of 
the  mountains  at  an  earlier  date  and  before  any  post  of  the  kind 
was  located  within  the  reach  of  the  latter.  To  these  murderous 
weapons  our  Flat  Heads,  for  a  long  time,  had  nothing  to  oppose 
but  the  arrow  and  their  undaunted  bravery. 

It  is  likely  that  the  first  white  men  seen  by  Flat  Heads  were 
members  of  an  exploring  expedition  of  the  de  la  Verendryes, 
who  between  1740-43  seem  to  have  reached  the  southeast  corner 
of  what  is  now  the  state  of  Montana.  In  the  report  of  one  of 
those  expeditions  mention  is  made  of  meeting  the  Flat  Heads. 
But  as  none  of  the  exploring  bands  referred  to  came  anyway 
near  western  Montana,  where  lay  the  land  and  home  of  the 
Flat  Heads,  it  may  be  reasonably  surmised  that  the  Flat  Heads 
in  question  were  only  a  part  of  the  tribe  who  were  hunting 
buffalo  somewhere  in  the  Yellowstone  country  or  along  the 
Missouri. 

That  among  the  first  whites  met  by  the  Flat  Heads  there 
should  have  been  a  Jesuit  missionary,  a  member  of  the  same 
order  as  Father  De  Smet,  who  a  century  after  was  to  become 
their  apostle,  is  interesting. 


THE  FLAT  HEADS  OR  SELISH  3 

While  one  or  other  of  the  de  la  Verenclrye  parties  were  the 
first  pale-faces  ever  seen  by  the  Flat  Heads,  the  first  whites  to 
pass  through  their  country,  so  far  as  it  is  known,  were  Lewis 
and  Clark  and  their  party,  who  arrived  in  the  Bitter  Root  Valley 
in  September,  1805.*  There  is  still  living  at  St.  Ignatius  an  old 
Indian  woman,  by  name  Eugenie,  who  distinctly  remembers  and 
speaks  of  the  coming  of  these  explorers,  and  vividly  describes 
the  surprise  which  their  advent  created.  Eugenie  was  then  in 
her  14th  or  16th  year,  and  in  her  present  venerable  old  age  she 
is  still  well  preserved,  her  mental  faculties  are  unimpaired,  and 
she  can  tell  with  accuracy  of  camping  scenes  and  events  which 
Lewis  and  Clark  describe  in  their  Travels. 

To  these  explorers  we  owe  some  interesting  details  about  the 
Flat  Heads,  which  the  reader  will  find  in  the  published  history 
of  Lewis  and  Clark's  celebrated  expedition.  It  must  be  noted, 
however,  that  the  Indians  whom  we  know  as  Flat  Heads  go  by 
an  altogether  different  name  with  Lewis  and  Clark,  being  called 
by  them  Ootlashoots.  We  are  at  a  loss  to  understand  why;  but 
the  importance  of  noting  this  fact  will  appear  further  on. 

We  shall  now  quote  but  one  paragraph  from  the  Journal  of 
Sergeant  Patrick  Gass,  who  served  in  Lewis  and  Clark's  expe- 
dition. The  passage  appears  very  significant  and.  gives  us  an 
insight  into  the  moral  character  of  the  Flat  Heads.  After  point- 
ing to  the  loose  morals  of  the  other  tribes  they  had  met  in  their 
long  tour  of  exploration,  Sergeant  Gass  writes :  "To  the  honor 
of  the  Flat  Heads  who  live  on  the  west  side  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, we  must  mention  them  as  exceptions :  they  are  the  only 
nation  on  the  whole  route  where  anything  like  chastity  is 
regarded." 

This  statement  goes  to  show  that  the  Flat  Heads  were  a 
chaste  tribe.  Further  proof  of  this  is  the  fact  that  no  polygamy 
existed  among  them,  the  missionaries  finding  but  one  in  the 
whole  tribe  who  had  two  wives. 

Ross  Cox,  an  English  gentleman,  first  in  the  employ  of  the 
Pacific  Fur  Company  and  later  in  that  of  the  Northwest  Com- 

*  Following  the  general  custom  in  this  country,  we  spell  the  General's 
name  without  an  e.  It  is  known  that  he  never  signed  himself  but  plain, 
unaristocratic  Clark.  However,  in  the  first  London  Edition  of  Lewis  and 
Clarke's  Travels  the  e  appears,  as  if  it  belonged  to  the  proper  spelling  of  his 
name,  at  least  in  England. 


4  INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

pany,  the  victorious  rival  of  the  former  concern,  spent  two  years, 
1 812-14,  trading  among  the  Flat  Heads.  He  returned  to  Eng- 
land in  1817,  and  shortly  after  published  a  book  of  his  travels.* 
According  to  his  testimony,  these  children  of  the  forest  had 
fewer  failings  than  any  other  tribe  he  had  met.  He  speaks  of 
them  as  being  honest  in  their  dealings,  brave  in  the  field  and 
amenable  to  their  chiefs,  cleanly  in  their  habits  and  decided 
enemies  to  falsehood  of  every  description.  The  women  were 
excellent  wives  and  mothers,  and  their  character  for  fidelity 
was  so  well  established  that  he  had  not  heard  of  one  proving 
unfaithful. 

Notwithstanding  all  their  good  qualities,  however,  in  the  treat- 
ment of  their  prisoners  the  Flat  Heads  were  not  only  without 
mercy,  but  as  barbarous,  cruel  and  fiendish  as  any  of  the  savage 
tribes. 

Mr.  Cox  speaks  of  his  first  visit  to  them  and  we  shall  quote 
him  again:  "Nov.  10  (1812),  we  came,"  says  Mr.  Cox,  "to  a 
small  village  of  the  Flat  Head  nation,  chiefly  consisting  of  old 
men,  women  and  children.  (The  great  body  of  the  tribe  were 
hunting.)  We  were  quite  charmed  with  their  frank,  hospitable 
reception  and  their  superiority  in  cleanliness  over  any  of  the 
other  tribes  we  had  hitherto  seen.  Their  lodges  were  conical 
but  very  spacious,  and  were  formed  by  a  number  of  buffalo  and 
moose  skins  thrown  over  long  poles.  The  fire  was  placed  in  the 
center,  and  the  ground  all  around  it  was  covered  with  mats  and 
clean  skins,  free  from  the  vermin  we  felt  so  annoying  on  the 
lower  Columbia." 

The  Flat  Heads  lived  on  game  and  fish,  and  also  on  wild  roots 
and  berries,  which  are  plentiful  in  their  land.  The  principal 
roots  which  they  used  for  food  were  the  camas  and  the  so-called 
bitter  root.  The  former  grows  like  small  onions  and  has  a 
rather  sweet  taste,  not  unlike  that  of  boiled  chestnuts  after  having 
been  smoked.  The  latter  in  appearance  as  well  as  in  taste 
resembles  the  root  of  cultivated  chickory.  Both  kinds  may  be 
prepared  in  various  ways  and  possess  excellent  nutritious 
properties. 

Both  men  and  women  were  decently  clad,  their  garments  being 

*  Adventures  on  the  Columbia  River,  by  Ross  Cox.    London:  Henry  Colburn 
and  Richard  Bentley,  1831. 


THE  FLAT  HEADS  OR  SELISH  5 

made  of  the  skins  and  furs  of  the  animals  that  supplied  them 
with  food,  the  buffalo,  moose,  elk,  deer,  beaver,  and  the  like. 
Little  urchins,  however,  had  often  no  other  garb  but  what  nature 
provided.  Even  in  winter  some  of  these  little  red  cherubs  could 
still  be  seen  in  our  days  plodding  through  slush  and  snow  in 
their  angel  garments,  any  other  raiment  proving  to  them  as 
cumbersome  as  did  Saul's  armor  to  young  David. 

At  a  later  period,  the  growing  scarcity  of  furs  and  peltries 
necessitated  the  use  of  white  man's  apparel.  But  it  would  seem 
that  the  change  has  been  at  the  expense  of  health  and  comfort 
on  the  part  of  the  Indians.  The  Indian  arrayed  picturesquely  in 
the  triumphs  of  the  chase  and  his  native  ingenuity  is  a  thing  of 
the  past  and  scarcely  to  be  seen  anywhere,  save  perhaps  at  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  where  occasionally  he  is  manufactured  to  order, 
or  in  the  Wild  West  shows. 

The  Selish  or  Flat  Head  language  is  original  in  many  ways 
and  difficult  to  master.  Its  utterance  is  rather  grave  and  slow, 
but,  while  tolerably  clear  and  distinct  on  this  account,  several 
of  its  sounds  are  aspirated  and  others  intensely  gutteral.  Five 
of  the  consonants  commonly  heard  in  other  tongues,  namely, 
b,  d,  f,  r  and  v,  are  wanting  in  theirs,  and  are  supplied  by  p,  t,  1 
and  m.  Thus,  Adolph  with  them  is  Atol;  Ambrose,  Amelo; 
Henry,  Alee;  Raphael,  Apel;  Mary,  Malee;  Rosalie,  Usalee; 
Victor,  Mitt'to,  the  accent  in  all  these  names  falling  on  the  last 
syllable,  and  ee  sounding  as  the  Italian  i  in  Forli'. 

The  same  language  is  spoken  by  nine  other  Indian  tribes,  the 
Upper  and  Lower  Kalispels,  the  Spokanes,  the  Cceur  d'Alenes, 
and  the  families  in  the  vicinity  of  Colville,  the  variations  met 
with  being  few  and  accidental. 

When  still  pagans,  the  Selish  or  Flat  Heads  believed  in  a 
Good  Spirit  and  a  bad  one.  They  also  believed  in  future  states 
of  reward  and  punishment.  With  them,  the  good  Indian  went 
to  a  country  of  perpetual  summer,  where  he  would  meet  his  wife 
and  children,  and  where  the  rivers  were  alive  with  fish,  and  the 
plains  swarming  with  buffalo  and  horses.  The  bad  Indian,  on 
the  contrary,  was  doomed  to  a  place  covered  perpetually  with  ice 
and  snow,  where  he  would  always  be  shivering  with  cold.  He 
would  see  fire,  but  afar  off;  he  would  see  water  also,  but  beyond 


6  INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

his  reach,  and  never  could  he  get  as  much  as  one  drop  to  cool 
his  parched  lips. 

Their  code  of  morals  was  short,  yet  comprehensive;  honesty, 
bravery,  love  of  truth,  love  for  wife  and  children,  were  the 
virtues  that  entitled  them  to  future  happiness ;  while  the  opposite 
vices  would  lead  them  to  everlasting  misery. 

The  Flat  Heads  had  a  very  curious  tradition  about  beavers. 
Toward  the  end  of  autumn  these  interesting  animals  could  be  seen 
assembling  in  definite  numbers,  ranging  from  twenty  to  thirty. 
Having  chosen  a  spot  for  their  residence,  they  would  set  them- 
selves to  cutting  down  trees,  scanning  beforehand  their  bent, 
and  the  place  where  they  wanted  each  tree  to  fall.  When  the 
tree  was  nearly  severed,  they  would  anxiously  look  up  and  watch 
its  leaning,  and  as  the  cracking  sound  announced  its  approaching 
fall,  they  scampered  in  all  directions  to  escape  being  caught 
under  it.  Once  on  the  ground,  the  tree  was  quickly  stripped  of 
all  its  branches,  and  then  with  their  dental  chisels  they  would 
divide  the  trunk  into  several  pieces  of  the  same  length,  and  with 
great  energy  and  persistency  roll  them  to  the  spot  chosen  for 
their  dwelling. 

Two  or  three  of  the  older  members  of  the  family  acted  as 
overseers,  and  it  was  not  unusual  to  see  them  chastising  such 
as  exhibited  signs  of  laziness.  Some  Indians  even  maintain  that 
they  have  heard  beavers  talk  together  and  seen  them  sitting  in 
council. 

Should  any  of  the  band  prove  altogether  incorrigible,  the  lazy 
fellows  were  driven  ofY  by  the  whole  community  and  forced  to 
secure  shelter  and  provisions  elsewhere.  The  outcasts  were  thus 
forced  to  pass  a  miserable  winter  alone  and  half  starved  in  a 
burrow  on  the  bank  of  some  stream,  where  they  easily  fell  a 
prey  to  the  trapper.  The  Indians  called  the  indolent  creatures 
"lazy  beavers,"  and  their  fur  was  much  less  prized  than  that  of 
the  others,  whose  persevering  industry  secured  them  abundant 
provisions  and  comfortable  quarters  during  the  severity  of  win- 
ter.* It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  these  most  industrious  ani- 
mals are  fast  disappearing  from  along  our  streams,  where  they 
were  so  plentiful  in  earlier  days. 

Impressed  by  the  extraordinary  habits  of  these  animals,  the 

*  See  P.  Ronan's  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Flat  Head  Indian  Nations. 


THE  FLAT  HEADS  OR  SELISH  7 

Flat  Heads  believed  them  to  be  a  fallen  race  of  Indians  who  in 
consequence  of  some  misconduct  had  been  condemned  by  the 
Great  Spirit  to  their  present  condition,  but  that  in  due  time  they 
would  be  restored  to  their  former  happy  state.  Stripped  of  all 
superstition,  may  not  this  strange  belief  have  been  a  shadow,  as 
it  were  of  God's  Revelation  concerning  man's  fall  in  Adam,  and 
of  the  Promise  of  our  Redemption?  Or  perhaps  a  faint  ray  of 
reason,  pointing  to  an  intermediate  state  of  purgatorial  existence? 

The  social  organization  of  the  Flat  Heads  was  somewhat 
peculiar.  Besides  the  great  chief  whose  authority  over  the 
whole  nation  was  hereditary,  they  had  a  war  chief,  whom  they 
selected  year  by  year.  The  latter  assumed  the  command  of  the 
entire  tribe  in  battle  and  in  their  hunting  excursions  over  the 
buffalo  plains  and  wielded  it  despotically.  The  hunting  expedition 
over,  he  retired  to  the  ranks.  The  warrior  who  had  displayed 
through  the  year  the  greatest  endurance,  bravery  and  prudence, 
was  the  one  selected.  Hence  it  not  seldom  happened  that  he 
who  had  been  leader  and  war  chief  in  one  campaign  was  but 
a  private  in  the  next. 

A  neighboring  tribe  of  our  Flat  Heads  were  the  Nez  Perces, 
who  lived  on  the  west  side  of  the  Bitter  Root  Mountains.  Prox- 
imity, intercourse,  as  well  as  common  interests,  kept  the  two 
nations  on  the  closest  terms  of  friendliness.  Not  only  were  they 
friends  and  allies,  but  to  some  extent  also  kith  and  kin  by  inter- 
marriage. The  importance  of  noting  this  will  appear  as  we 
proceed  with  our  narrative.  For,  doubtless,  ignorance  of  this 
fact  has  been  the  principal  cause  why  not  a  few  were  led  into 
error,  and  still  deny  the  claim  of  the  Flat  Heads  to  the  expedition 
sent  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  Saint  Louis  after  the  Black 
Robes  in  1831. 


Chapter  II. 

HOW  THE  SELISH  OR  FLAT  HEADS  OBTAINED  THE  FIRST 
NOTIONS  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

AS  FAR  back  as  the  seventeenth  century  French  Jesuits  had 
-crossed  the  ocean  to  christianize  the  savages  of  Canada. 
Among  the  number  was  Father  Isaac  Jogues,  who  became  the 
apostle  of  the  Iroquois,  sealing  with  his  blood  his  heroic  labors 
and  the  faith  he  had  come  to  preach. 

Did  he  ever  imagine,  in  the  midst  of  his  trials  and  sufferings, 
that  he  was  preparing  apostles  for  the  unknown  regions  of  the 
Northwest,  and  that  the  seed  which  he  was  planting  and  fertiliz- 
ing with  his  blood  on  the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence  would  be 
borne  beyond  the  Mississippi,  across  the  Rockies,  and  even  to 
the  Pacific  coast? 

Between  the  years  1812  and  1820  a  band  of  these  Iroquois, 
twenty-four  in  number,  according  to  Bishop  Rosati  in  his  letter 
to  the  Father  General  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  dated  St.  Louis, 
October  20,  1839,  left  the  Mission  of  Caughnawaga,  near  Sault 
St.  Louis  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  crossing  the  Mississippi 
valley,  directed  their  course  westward. 

The  leader  of  the  band  was  Ignace  La  Mousse,  better  known 
among  the  Indians  and  to  history  as  Big  Ignace  or  Old  Ignace, 
because  of  his  moral  and  physical  superiority,  and  also  to 
distinguish  him  from  another  and  younger  Ignace,  who,  as  will 
be  seen  later  on,  also  figures  conspicuously  in  the  history  of  the 
Flat  Heads. 

Having  reached  the  land  of  our  Indians,  these  Iroquois  were 
kindly  and  hospitably  received,  and  here  the  wandering  band 
concluded  to  remain.  The  ties  of  friendship  soon  ripened  into 
stronger  ones  by  intermarriage,  and  from  this  on,  these  Iroquois 
became  members  of  the  Selish  or  Flat  Head  nation.  Old  Ignace 
soon  acquired  an  ascendency  and  great  influence  over  the  tribe, 
which  he  wielded  for  the  temporal  and  spiritual  welfare  of  his 
adopted  brethren.    Often  would  he  speak  to  them  of  the  Catholic 


FIRST  NOTIONS  OF  CHRISTIANITY  9 

religion,  its  teachings,  its  prayers  and  its  rites,  the  conclusion  of 
all  his  discourses  being  always  the  same,  namely,  the  advantage 
and  necessity  of  having  the  Black  Robes  or  Catholic  missionaries 
among  them,  by  whom  they  could  be  instructed  and  taught  the 
way  to  Heaven. 

He  was  listened  to  with  the  greatest  attention,  and  docile  to 
his  instructions,  the  Flat  Heads  learned  from  him  the  principal 
truths  and  precepts  of  Christianity,  the  sign  of  the  Cross,  the 
Lord's  Prayer  and  other  practices  of  Catholic  devotion.  These 
good  people  strove  as  best  they  could,  not  only  to  remember 
what  they  were  taught  by  old  Ignace,  but  also  to  put  it  into 
practice.  Hence  they  prayed  in  common  morning  and  evening, 
observed  Sunday,  baptized  their  children  and  marked  the  graves 
of  their  dead  with  a  cross,  the  symbol  of  Redemption.  The  Sun- 
day was  announced  to  the  tribe  by  raising  on  a  high  pole  some- 
thing in  the  form  of  a  flag  called  in  their  language  S'chazeus. 
Hence  the  Lord's  day  became  known  to  them  under  that  name, 
by  which  they  still  designate  it. 

Gradually  a  strong  desire  to  have  in  their  midst  some  of  the 
Black  Robes  spoken  of  by  Old  Ignace  took  hold  of  them,  and 
the  possibility  as  well  as  ways  and  means  of  obtaining  the  mis- 
sionaries were  frequently  discussed  in  council.  Ignace  had  sug- 
gested that  some  of  the  tribe  be  sent  to  the  country  of  the  white 
man,  where  Black  Robes  might  be  had.  The  suggestion  was 
adopted  in  a  general  assembly  and  four  of  their  braves  volun- 
teered to  make  the  journey.  It  is  well  to  note  here  that  two  of 
these  were  partly  Nez  Perces  and  partly  Flat  Heads,  being  the 
former  by  blood,  and  the  latter  by  choice,  since  they  lived  with 
the  Flat  Heads  as  actual  members  of  the  tribe. 

The  proposal  would  likely  have  appeared  to  be  the  height 
of  folly  to  all  but  such  courageous  people.  None  of  them,  save 
the  Iroquois,  had  ever  seen  the  village  of  a  white  man,  and  but 
few  of  them  even  a  white  man's  face.  They  would  have  to  travel 
thousands  of  miles,  over  trackless  mountains,  deserts  and  treeless 
plains,  across  wide,  deep  rushing  streams,  their  path  being 
beset  on  every  side  by  deadly  enemies,  whose  eagerness  and 
alertness  to  waylay  them  it  would  be  next  to  impossible  to 
escape.     But  the  Flat  Heads  were  without  fear. 

In  the  spring  of  1831  the  four  braves  who  had  volunteered 


io         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

to  undertake  the  expedition  started  on  their  long,  perilous 
journey,  and  safely  reached  St.  Louis  in  the  early  part  of 
October.  It  is  not  known  which  way  they  traveled,  but  it  is  likely 
that  at  least  part  of  their  course  lay  along  the  overland  route 
followed  by  the  traders,  whose  headquarters  were  in  St.  Louis. 
Indians  were  a  common  sight  in  the  streets  of  St.  Louis  at  the 
time,  and  it  is  no  wonder  that  our  Flat  Heads  appear  to  have 
been  scarcely  noticed.  The  privations  of  the  journey  told 
severely  on  the  brave  fellows.  Two  fell  dangerously  ill  shortly 
after  their  arrival,  and  died,  both  being  baptized  during  their 
sickness.  Their  names  were  Narcisse  and  Paul*  and,  as  shown 
by  the  record  of  their  interment,  they  were  buried  in  the 
cemetery  of  the  parish,  Narcisse,  October  31 ;  Paul,  November  17. 

Le  trent-et-un  d'Octobre  mil-huit  cent  trent-et-un,  Je  sousigne  ai 
inhume  dans  le  Cemetiere  de  cette  Paroisse  le  corps  de  Keepeellele'  ou 
Pipe  Bard  du  Nez  Perce  de  la  tribu  de  Chopweck  appellee  Tetes 
Plattes  age  d'environs  quarante  quatre  ans,  administre  du  St.  Bap- 
teme,  venant  de  la  riviere  Columbia  au  dela  des  Rocky  Mountains. 

Edm.  Saulnier,  Pr. 

Le  dix-sept  de  Novembre  mil-huit  cent  trent-et-un,  Je  sousigne,  ai 
inhume  dans  le  Cemetiere  de  cette  Paroisse  le  corps  de  Paul  sauvage 
de  la  nation  des  Tetes  Plattes  venant  de  la  riviere  Columbia  au  dela 
des  Rocky  Mountains,  administre  du  St.  Bapteme  et  de  l'estreme 
onction. 

Roux,  Pr. 

Their  surviving  companions  left  St.  Louis  most  likely  the 
following  spring  to  return  to  their  country.  But  they  never 
reached  it,  and  what  has  become  of  them  has  never  been 
ascertained. 

Geo.  Catlin  in  his  Letter  No.  48,  speaks  of  meeting  two 
Indians,  whose  portraits  he  painted  from  life  and  with  whom 
he  traveled  two  thousand  miles.  From  his  description  it  can 
hardly  be  doubted  that  they  were  the  survivors  of  the  delegation. 
We  are  told  by  the  same  Catlin  that  one  of  them  died  near 

*  Whether  they  were  given  these  names  at  their  Baptism  in  St.  Louis, 
or  previously  by  some  of  the  Iroquois,  is  not  known.  The  writer  learned 
their  Christian  names  from  Bro.  Wm.  Claessens,  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Flat  Head  Mission.  Why  in  the  burial  records,  which  are  appended,  the 
name  of  one  is  given,  and  not  that  of  the  other,  is  also  more  than  we  can  tell. 


FIRST  NOTIONS  OF  CHRISTIANITY  u 

the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone  River.     This  leaves  but  one  of 
the  band  unaccounted  for. 

But  let  us  now  listen  to  the  Right  Rev.  Joseph  Rosati,  at 
the  time  Bishop  of  St.  Louis.  Scarcely  three  months  after 
the  arrival  of  the  Indian  delegation  he  wrote  an  account  of  it, 
which  he  sent  to  The  Annals  of  the  Association  of  the  Propaga- 
tion of  the  Faith,  under  date  of  December  31,  1831.  The  letter 
runs  as  follows : 

Some  three  months  ago  four  Indians  who  live  across  the  Rocky 
Mountains  near  the  Columbia  River  (Clark's  Fork  of  the  Columbia) 
arrived  at  St.  Louis.  After  visiting  General  Clark  who,  in  his  cele- 
brated travels,  has  visited  their  country  and  has  been  well  treated 
by  them,  they  came  to  see  our  church  and  appeared  to  be  exceedingly 
well  pleased  with  it.  Unfortunately,  there  was  no  one  who  under- 
stood their  language.  Some  time  afterwards  two  of  them  fell 
dangerously  ill.    I  was  then  absent  from  St.  Louis. 

Two  of  our  priests  visited  them  and  the  poor  Indians  seemed 
delighted  with  the  visit.  They  made  the  sign  of  the  Cross  and  other 
signs  which  appeared  to  have  some  relation  to  baptism.  The  sacra- 
ment was  administered  to  them  ;  they  gave  expressions  of  satisfaction. 
A  little  cross  was  presented  to  them.  They  took  it  with  eagerness, 
kissed  it  repeatedly,  and  it  could  be  taken  from  them  only  after 
death.  It  was  truly  distressing  that  they  could  not  be  spoken  to. 
Their  remains  were  carried  to  the  church  and  their  funeral  was 
conducted  with  all  Catholic  ceremonies.  The  other  two  attended 
and  acted  very  becomingly.  We  have  since  learned  from  a  Canadian, 
who  has  crossed  the  country  which  they  inhabit,  that  they  belong 
to  the  nation  of  Flat  Heads  who,  as  also  another  nation  called  Black- 
feet,  had  received  some  notions  of  the  Catholic  religion  from  two 
Indians  who  had  been  to  Canada,  and  who  had  related  what  they 
had  seen,  giving  a  striking  description  of  the  beautiful  ceremonies 
of  Catholic  worship,  and  telling  them  that  it  was  also  the  religion 
of  the  whites.  They  have  retained  what  they  could  of  it  and  they 
have  learned  to  make  the  sign  of  the  Cross  and  to  pray.  These 
nations  have  not  yet  been  corrupted  by  intercourse  with  others.  Their 
manners  and  customs  are  simple,  and  they  are  very  numerous.  Mr. 
Condamine  (Rev.  Matthew  Condamine  was  one  of  Bishop  Rosati's 
clergy  attached  to  the  Cathedral)  has  offered  himself  to  go  to  them 
next  spring  with  another.  In  the  meantime  we  shall  obtain  some 
further  information  of  what  we  have  been  told  and  of  the  means 
of  travel. 


12         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

We  must  note,  however,  that  what  is  stated  in  this  letter 
with  regard  to  the  Black  feet  nation  should  be  understood  to 
apply  to  the  Nez  Perces,  who  were  the  neighbors  and  friends 
of  the  Flat  Heads  and  who,  like  them,  desired  to  be  instructed 
in  the  teachings  of  the  Catholic  faith.  This,  so  far  as  we  know, 
was  not  as  yet  the  case  with  the  Blackfeet.  Hence,  the  obvious 
conclusion,  that  either  the  Canadian  informant  of  Bishop  Rosati 
was  not  sufficiently  well  informed  on  the  subject,  or  that,  while 
speaking  of  the  tribes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  he  was  mis- 
understood. Such  a  misunderstanding  was  very  apt  to  occur 
in  those  early  clays,  when  so  little  was  known  of  the  wild  Indian 
races  of  the  Northwest. 


Chapter  III. 

A  CORRECTION. 


STRANGELY  enough,  in  our  first  edition  the  names  of 
Peter  Gaucher  and  Young  Ignace  were  appended  to  the 
following  illustration.  But  this  was  an  error.  The  two  Indians, 
whose  likenesses  appear  here,  were  met  by  Geo.  Catlin  in  1832, 


Indians  who  are  believed  to  have  been  the  first  Flat  Head  Delegation  that 
went  to  St.  Louis  in  1831.     (After  a  painting  by  George  Catlin.) 

and  as  we  learn  from  Catlin  himself  that  they  were  then  on  the 
homeward  journey  from  St.  Louis  to  their  own  country  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  They  were  the  survivors  of  a  deputation  of 
four,  two  members  of  which  died  shortly  after  they  had  arrived 
in  St.  Louis.  Now,  Peter  Gaucher  and  Young  Ignace  did  not 
go  to  St.  Louis  until  1839,  and  were  not  a  part  of  any  deputation 
of  four,  but  constituted  a  special  deputation  themselves,  con- 
sisting of  two  members.  It  is  therefore  evident  that  they  cannot 
be  the  Indians  met  by  Catlin.* 

*  See  Geo.  Catlin's  Letters  and  Notes  on  the  Manners,  etc.,  of  the  North 
American  Indians:     London,  1841. 

The  plate  was  borrowed  from  The  Journal  Publishing  Co.,  Helena,  Mon- 


14         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

However,  the  mistake  has  proven  of  service,  as  the  sequel 
will  show.  The  pictures  in  the  cut  are  even  more  important 
for  our  purpose  than  if  they  were  those  of  Peter  Gaucher  and 
Young  Ignace. 

According  to  Catlin's  statement,  his  two  braves  were  a  part 
of  a  delegation,  the  remaining  two  of  which  had  died  in  St. 
Louis.  As  this  statement  is  in  perfect  accord  with  Bishop 
Rosati's,  who  also  speaks  of  a  deputation  of  four,  two  of  whom 
died  in  St.  Louis,  we  must  conclude  that  both  Catlin  and  Bishop 
Rosati  speak  of  the  same  Indians  and  the  same  delegation.  But 
it  is  unquestionable  that  the  deputation  of  which  Bishop  Rosati 
speaks  in  his  two  letters  is  that  of  the  Flat  Heads  in  183 1. 
Therefore  the  Indians  spoken  of  by  Catlin  must  have  belonged 
to  the  same  deputation.  Consequently  the  two  he  met  and 
painted  from  life  and  whose  likenesses  appear  in  the  cut  before 
us  were  two  of  the  four  Indians  sent  to  St.  Louis  by  the  Flat 
Heads  in  1831. 

Still,  it  has  been  alleged  that  Catlin's  two  Indians  did  not 
belong  to  any  Flat  Head  deputation,  but  to  one  sent  out  by  the 
Nez  Perces.  But  these  very  pictures  provide  us  with  an  argument 
to  disprove  such  an  assertion. 

There  is  no  record  of  any  other  Indian  deputation  with  the 
same  object  in  view  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  St.  Louis, 
previous  to  the  one  of    183 1,  the  first  Flat  Head  expedition. 

tana,  who  used  it  to  illustrate  P.  Ronari's  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Flat 
Head  Indian  Nation,  published  by  the  same  firm  in  1890;  and  is  evidently  a 
reproduction  of  Geo.  Catlin's  Indian  plates  No.  207,208,  which  were  engraved 
from  his  original  paintings.  As  it  then  appeared,  the  cut  bore  the  following 
wording :  "The  Indians  who  conducted  Father  De  Smet  from  St.  Louis  to 
establish  St.  Mary's  Mission  in  the  Bitter  Root  Valley  (After  a  Painting 
by  Geo.  Catlin)." 

Beyond  doubt,  this  was  historically  wrong;  but  being  unacquainted  at  the 
time  with  Catlin's  works,  the  writer  did  not  discover  the  error.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Indians  who  conducted  Father  De  Smet  to  our  mountains 
were  well  known.  Consequently,  it  seemed  proper  that  their  names  should  be 
placed  with  the  illustration.  But  it  was  a  blunder  to  put  the  name  of  Peter 
Gaucher  under  one  of  the  two  figures,  and  that  of  Young  Ignace  under  the 
other.  For  who  could  tell  one  from  the  other?  An  interrogation  point  after 
the  names  might  have  righted  the  matter,  somewhat :  it  would  have  shown 
at  least  that  the  writer  had  no  intention  of  misleading.  But  unfortunately, 
to  our  chagrin,  a  full  stop  usurped  the  place  of  the  point  of  interrogation. 
Thus,  pictures  and  names  were  jumbled  together  and  constituted  a  glaring 
anachronism.     Hence  the  necessity  of  this  correction. 


A   CORRECTION  15 

Therefore,  if  Catlin's  two  Indians  did  not  belong  to  that  expedi- 
tion, to  what  one  did  they  belong?  Not  to  any  of  those  that 
followed,  because  all  of  these  went  forth  at  dates  subsequent  to 
the  meeting  with  Catlin.  Therefore,  on  his  own  testimony  that 
his  two  braves  were  really  a  part  of  the  deputation  he  speaks 
of,  it  becomes  evident  that  they  belonged  to  the  one  which  our 
Flat  Heads  sent  out  in  1831,  and  any  assumption  to  the  contrary 
must  be  dismissed  as  contradicted  by  the  pictures  before  our  eyes. 

True,  Catlin  makes  his  two  Indians  Nez  Perces,  and  another 
of  their  companions,  Keepeellele,  one  of  the  two  who  died  in 
St.  Louis,  seems  to  have  been  of  the  same  tribe,  according  to 
the  record  of  his  burial  given  above.  Three,  then,  of  the  four 
would  have  been  Nez  Perces.  Is  not  this  sufficient  evidence 
against  the  Flat  Head  claims? 

We  must  admit  that  the  objection  is  not  without  plausibility. 
But  it  runs  counter  to  facts,  and  therefore,  how  plausible  soever, 
and  specious  it  may  appear  at  first  sight,  it  is  not,  and  cannot 
be  tenable. 

What  are  the  facts  ?  We  have  already  narrated  them  as  they 
were  learned  by  our  missionaries  from  the  lips  of  the  Indians 
themselves.  Can  it  be  that  in  the  interval  of  not  more  than 
ten  years  between  their  first  endeavors  to  obtain  Black  Robes 
and  the  arrival  of  the  Fathers  among  them,  and  in  a  matter 
that  absorbed  their  whole  attention,  the  Indians  lost  their 
memories?  Or  can  it  be  seriously  thought  that  these  simple- 
minded  children  of  the  forest  would  attempt  to  impose  upon 
and  deceive  others,  in  order  to  gain  credit  for  themselves,  as 
the  authors  of  events  in  which  they  had  no  share? 

The  evidence  that  gives  the  Flat  Heads  the  merit  of  that  first 
expedition  appears  to  the  writer  so  convincing  as  to  preclude 
the  possibility  of  doubt.  At  the  time  of  our  writing,  in  this 
year  of  grace  19 10,  the  whole  story  in  its  substance  can  still 
be  learned  from  the  lips  of  Francis  Saxa,  one  of  the  two  lads 
whom  their  Father,  Old  Ignace,  took  with  him  to  St.  Louis 
in  1835.  Historically,  nothing  can  be  more  certain  than  that 
the  delegation  which  reached  St.  Louis  in  the  fall  of  1831  was 
sent  out  by  our  Flat  Heads. 

But  if  so,  it  will  be  asked,  how  comes  it  that  the  same  dele- 
gation is  assigned  by  some  to  the  Nez  Perces?    The  reason  for 


16         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

this  assertion  is  to  be  found,  first,  in  the  fact  that  the  relation 
of  the  two  tribes  to  each  other  was  not  well  known,  and  secondly, 
in  a  prejudice  which  had  no  little  to  do  with  obscuring  the 
truth. 

It  must  be  well  understood  that,  though  they  are  two  different 
nations:  one,  east;  the  other,  west  of  the  Bitter  Root  Mountains, 
each  with  its  own  language,  chiefs,  customs,  etc.,  still,  compara- 
tive nearness,  common  interests  and  common  dangers  brought 
and  kept  Flat  Heads  and  Nez  Perces  in  the  closest  relations. 
Members  of  one  tribe  could  always  be  found  mingling  with 
those  of  the  other.  This  naturally  led  to  occasional  inter- 
marriages. There  were,  besides,  a  few  others,  five  or  six  Nez 
Perces  by  blood,  who  lived  with  the  Flat  Heads,  as  if  they 
were  members  of  the  tribe.  It  is  known  that  two  of  these 
were  in  the  deputation  that  went  to  St.  Louis  in  1831. 

Under  such  conditions  of  mixed  parentage  and  constant 
intercourse,  not  a  few  of  these  people  must  have  been  more  or 
less  familiar  with  the  language  and  customs  of  both  tribes,  and 
could  easily  be  taken  by  strangers  for  either  Flat  Heads  or  Nez 
Perces.  This  is  known  to  have  occurred  when  they  were 
trading  at  the  forts,  or  fell  in  with  other  Indians. 

It  is  important,  however,  to  bear  in  mind  that  it  was  far  more 
likely  that  Flat  Heads  should  pass  for  Nez  Perces,  than  Nez 
Perces  for  Flat  Heads.  Why  so?  For  the  simple  reason  that 
the  Nez  Perces  were  a  much  larger  and  more  influential  com- 
munity, were  more  widely  and  better  known.  Besides,  the 
Nez  Perces  lived  in  a  country  easy  of  access;  whereas  our  Flat 
Heads  dwelt  in  the  very  heart  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and 
numbered  only  a  few  hundred. 

We  find  a  confirmation  of  this  truth  in  the  fact  that  Lewis 
and  Clark  in  the  account  of  their  travels  have  much  to  say  of 
the  Nez  Perces,  while  they  seem  not  to  have  known  so  much 
as  the  name  of  the  Flat  Heads.  This  is  the  more  singular, 
because  the  Ootlasthoots  of  whom  they  speak,  and  with  whom 
they  treated  and  traded,  as  their  diary  leaves  no  room  to  doubt, 
could  be  no  others  than  our  Flat  Heads.* 

This  fact  must  also  be  remembered  when  we  are  told  that 

*  See  The  Trail  of  Lewis  and  Clark,  by  Olin  D.  Wheeler :  G.  P.  Putnam's 
Sons ;  New  York  and  London. 


A   CORRECTION  17 

the  four  Indians  in  question,  on  visiting  General  Clark  in  St. 
Louis,  were  spoken  of  by  him  as  Nez  Perces. 

This  visit  is  a  matter  of  history,  and  is  mentioned,  as  we 
have  seen,  by  Bishop  Rosati.  The  General  had  been  in  their 
country  and  most  likely  they  had  all  heard  of  him  and  perhaps 
some  of  them  had  met  him  personally.  What  was  more  natural 
than  that  they  should  call  on  him? 

Some  non-Catholic  writers  have  not  ceased  to  refer  to  this 
visit  as  convincing  proof  of  their  contention  that  the  original 
deputation  of  Indians  was  not  made  up  of  Flat  Heads,  because, 
forsooth,  General  Clark  had  referred  to  them  as  Nez  Perces ! 

The  General  had  been  among  both  Flat  Heads  and  Nez  Perces. 
But  whilst  he  tarried  only  a  few  days  in  the  country  of  the 
former,  he  spent  several  months  among  the  latter.  He  did 
not  even  learn  the  true  name  of  the  Flat  Heads  or  Selish; 
moreover,  since  they  lived  close  to  the  Nez  Perces,  how  easy 
for  him  to  confound  one  tribe  with  the  other  and  designate 
both  by  the  name  of  the  better  known? 

What  has  been  said  of  the  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition 
applies  also  to  Geo.  Catlin,  who  seems  to  have  known  as  little 
or  nothing  of  the  Flat  Heads.  True,  in  his  Letters  and  Notes, 
etc.,  Catlin  speaks  of  Flat  Heads,  but  he  uses  the  word  in  a 
generic  sense,  that  is,  to  signify  all  the  tribes  supposed  to  have 
practised,  at  one  time  or  another,  the  barbarous  custom  of 
flattening  the  head.  But  we  have  failed  to  discover  in  his 
whole  work  the  faintest  allusion  to  our  Flat  Heads  of  the  Bitter 
Root  Valley. 

With  all  this  before  us,  we  can  easily  understand  how  people- 
unacquainted  with  the  facts  could  be  misled  into  ascribing  the 
deputation  to  the  wrong  parties.  The  more  so,  that  prejudice 
was  not  wanting  to  befog  the  truth,  as  will  appear  directly. 

It  seems  certain  that  the  Nez  Perces  had  even  at  that  period 
some  knowledge  of  Christianity,  received  from  Catholic  sources, 
i.  e.,  from  French  Canadians  in  the  employ  of  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company.  For  it  is  well  known  that  many  of  the  Company's 
employees,  all  over  this  western  country,  were  Canadian  Catho- 
lics, and  that  several  of  them  were  zealous  in  sowing  the  seed 
of  Catholicity  among  the  Indians  with  whom  they  came  in 
contact.      Peter  C.   Pambrun,   in  charge  at  Fort  Walla  Walla 


18         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

in  the  early  thirties,  a  devout  Catholic,  may  be  mentioned  as 
one  of  those  lay  missionaries  who  did  much  toward  introducing 
and  fostering  the  teachings  of  Catholicism  among  the  natives 
along  the  Columbia. 

That  the  Nez  Perces,  in  particular,  had  received  their 
first  notions  of  Christianity  from  French  Canadians  in  the 
employ  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  is  the  explicit  statement 
made  some  forty  years  ago  to  Father  J.  M.  Cataldo,  S.  J.,  by 
Oo-yds-kas-it,  an  old  chief  of  the  tribe.  Moreover,  the  inter- 
mingling with  the  Flat  Heads  and  their  adopted  brethren,  the 
Iroquois,  must  have  made  them  somewhat  acquainted  with 
Christian  teaching. 

The  Nez  Perces,  too,  were  desirous  of  having  missionaries 
among  them,  and  as  that  desire  arose  from  what  they  had 
learned  from  Catholic  people,  we  may  be  certain  that  the 
teachers  or  missionaries  they  first  wanted  were  priests  or  Black 
Robes.  Hence,  there  is  good  reason  to  assume  that  the  deputa- 
tion of  183 1,  though  organized  by  the  Flat  Heads,  carried  with 
it  the  request  for  missionaries  of  at  least  some  Nez  Perces,  if 
not  of  the  whole  tribe.  The  fact  that  there  were  in  the  delegation 
two  who  were  at  least  partly  Nez  Perces  would  seem  to  strengthen 
this  belief. 

However,  the  Black  Robe  was  long  in  coming.  Meanwhile, 
Methodists  and  Presbyterians  arrived  upon  the  field,  and  offered 
their  services  to  both  the  Flat  Heads  and  Nez  Perces.  The 
latter  received  them,  but  not  so  the  former,  who  remained 
unshaken  in  their  determination  to  have  none  but  Catholic 
missionaries. 

The  Nez  Perces  were  drawn  into  Protestantism  by  men  who 
went  out  to  them  because  of  the  call  for  priests  which  had  gone 
forth  from  the  Flat  Heads;  an  appeal  for  missionaries  that  was 
probably  the  first  of  its  kind  in  the  history  of  Christianity.  It 
created  quite  a  stir  all  over  the  United  States,  as  well  as  through- 
out Europe.    The  Protestant  sects  were  not  slow  to  profit  by  it. 

Yet  that  appeal  was  distinctively  Catholic  both  in  origin  and  in 
aim;  priests,  not  preachers,  were  wanted  by  the  Indians.  But 
some  have  not  been  willing  to  admit  this  fact,  because  rather 
disparaging  to  them  and  their  cause.  Therefore,  the  timely 
discovery  was  made  that   "the  claims  to  the  first  missionary 


A   CORRECTION  19 

efforts  in  the  Northwest  country  made  by  the  Flat  Heads  were 
unfounded."*  And  the  counter  claim,  which  gives  the  credit 
of  the  expedition  to  the  Nez  Perces,  was  propagated  by  tongue 
and  pen,  from  pulpit  and  bench. 

Geo.  Catlin  gives  the  names  of  his  two  Indians  as,  Hee-oh'ks- 
te-kin  (Rabbit-skin-leggins)  ;  and  H'co-a-h'cotes-min'  (No- 
horns-on-his-head).  Father  J.  M.  Cataldo,  who  spent  a  number 
of  years  among  the  Nez  Perces  and  has  become  thoroughly 
familiar  with  their  tongue,  declares  the  names  to  be  "corrupt 
Nez  Perces  language."  Though  the  corruption  might  be  due 
to  some  other  cause,  such  as  mispelling,  misprint,  and  the  like, 
may  it  not  be  also  an  indication  that  Catlin's  two  braves  were 
not,  after  all  full-fledged  Nez  Perces? 

With  still  greater  reason,  the  same  might  be  thought  of 
Keepeellele,  the  record  of  whose  burial  makes  him  both  Flat 
Head  and  Nez  Perce.  How  could  he  be  both?  As  easily  and 
as  truly  as  the  writer  is  both  an  American  and  an  Italian;  an 
Italian  by  parentage  and  birth;  an  American  by  choice  and 
more  than  half  a  century's  residence  in  this  country. 

Therefore,  even  admitting  that  not  only  two,  but  all  four 
in  the  band  were  Nez  Perces  by  birth,  which,  however,  was 
not  the  case,  it  would  not  follow  that  the  deputation  had  not 
been  sent  out  by  our  Flat  Heads.  For  whatever  their  extraction, 
the  moment  that  they  had  become  identified  with  the  tribe,  they 
could  well  be  looked  upon  as  Flat  Heads.  So  much  for  the 
controversy,  and  now  let  us  get  back  to  our  narrative. 

*  See  The  Acquisition  of  Oregon,  by  Wm.  J.  Marshall,  a  non-Catholic. 
Two  vols.  Lowman  and  Han  ford :  Seattle,  Wash.— A  work  quite  recently 
published  and  of  much  historical  value. 


Chapter  IV. 

UNSUCCESSFUL   ATTEMPTS    TO    ESTABLISH    NON-CATHOLIC 
MISSIONS    AMONG   THE    FLAT    HEADS 

ALTHOUGH  this  first  expedition  to  St.  Louis  had  failed  in 
'-its  immediate  object,  it  was  not  entirely  a  failure,  inasmuch 
as  it  brought  the  cause  of  the  Flat  Heads  to  the  attention  of 
the  Christian  world  and  aroused  much  interest  and  sympathy 
in  their  behalf.  But  herein  lay  a  danger.  We  mean  that  of 
being  given  "stones  for  bread,"  and  of  having  sown  among 
them  the  errors  of  heresy,  instead  of  the  word  of  life,  for  which 
they  were  seeking. 

In  fact,  scarcely  two  years  after  the  survivors  of  the  Flat 
Head  deputation  had  departed  for  their  home  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  the  non-Catholic  missionary  societies  made  repeated 
attempts  to  establish  missions  of  their  own  among  the  members 
of  that  tribe.  Their  efforts,  however,  only  accentuated  the 
spirit  that  animated  our  Flat  Heads,  who,  while  determined  to 
have  among  them  Christian  teachers  at  any  cost,  were  equally 
determined  to  have  none  but  Catholic  missionaries. 

This  became  clear  in  1834  when,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
American  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  the  Rev.  Jason  Lee, 
of  Stanstead,  Canada,  and  his  nephew,  the  Rev.  Daniel  Lee, 
with  three  laymen,  were  sent  to  found  a  mission  among  the 
Flat  Heads.  Those  gentlemen  arrived  at  their  destination,  but 
instead  of  remaining  to  evangelize  the  tribe  assigned  to  them, 
they  at  once  left  the  Flat  Head  country,  and  went  to  Oregon,  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  the  Canadian  colony  on  the  banks  of  the 
Willamette.     Why  this  speedy  departure? 

One  of  the  reasons  given  is  of  interest  and  throws  much  light 
on  the  subject:  "It  was  shown,"  they  tell  us,  "that  the  supposed 
claims  of  the  Flat  Heads  on  the  first  missionary  efforts  made 
in  the  country  were  unfounded."  This  statement,  translated 
into  plain  English,  indicates  clearly  enough  that  the  Rev.  J.  Lee 
and    companions,    on    reaching   the    Flat    Heads,    found    that 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONARIES  DECLINED  21 

their  services  were  not  wanted,  and  that  it  was  Catholic  Black 
Robes  whom  the  Indians  desired  and  had  sent  for. 

The  Flat  Heads,  who  were  still  eagerly  awaiting  the  return 
of  their  brethren  gone  in  search  of  Christian  teachers,  hearing 
that  missionaries  were  on  the  way  to  their  tribe,  thought  at 
first,  and  very  naturally,  that  they  could  be  no  others  than  the 
expected  Black  Robes  who,  at  last,  were  coming  to  the  Rockies. 
But  when  the  Lee  party  arrived,  our  Indians  were  much  dis- 
appointed. None  of  their  men  was  in  the  party  and,  further, 
the  missionary  gentlemen  who  stood  before  them  did  not  tally 
with  the  description  of  the  Black  Robes  given  by  their  adopted 
brethren,  the  Iroquois.  The  missionaries  spoken  of  by  the 
Iroquois  wore  long  black  gowns,  carried  a  crucifix  with  them, 
prayed  the  great  prayer  (the  Mass),  and  did  not  marry.  But 
the  newcomers  wore  no  black  gowns  and,  upon  inquiry,  had 
no  cross  to  show,  prayed  not  the  great  prayer,  and,  besides,  they 
married.  They  surely  could  not  be  the  teachers  they  had  sent 
for.  Consequently,  they  made  the  Lee  party  understand  that 
the  Flat  Head  tribe  did  not  care  for  them  nor  their  ministrations. 
Was  not  this  ample  cause    for  the  abandonment  of  the  project? 

But  the  other  reasons  advanced  by  Lee  and  Frost  for  not 
locating  their  mission  among  these  Indians,  are  equally  inter- 
esting and  well  worth  quoting.  "Subsequent  inquiries,"  say 
these  historians,  "had  furnished  reasons  to  the  missionaries 
that  could  not  justify  any  attempt  to  commence  the  mission 
among  them  (the  Flat  Heads).  First,  the  means  of  subsistence 
in  a  region  so  remote  and  so  difficult  of  access  were,  to  say 
the  least,  very  difficult.  Second,  the  smallness  of  their  number. 
Third,  the  vicinity  to  the  Blackfeet,  as  well  the  white  man's 
enemies  as  theirs.  Fourth,  a  larger  field  of  usefulness  was 
contemplated  as  the  object  of  the  mission  than  the  benefiting 
of  a  single  tribe,  etc."* 

These  gentlemen,  it  would  seem,  besides  discovering  that  their 
services  were  not  wanted,  found  the  field  too  small  and  not 
only  uninviting,  but  entailing  too  many  hardships  and  dangers. 
Consequently,  they  thought  it  wise  to  move  on  and  go  to  Oregon. 

The  first  attempt  was  followed  by  others.  The  Flat  Head 
expedition  to   St.   Louis  had  given  impetus  to  the  missionary 

*  Ten  Years  in  Oregon,  p.  127. 


22         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

movement,  particularly  toward  the  Oregon  country.  The  Flat 
Head  Indians,  however,  were  the  tribe  whom  the  American 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions  seemed  specially  desirous  to  evangel- 
ize and  take  under  its  care.  Hence  in  1835  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Parker  and  Dr.  Marcus  Whitman  were  sent  out  by  the  Board 
to  look  into  the  condition  of  the  natives,  with  a  view  to  estab- 
lishing missions  among  them.  The  Flat  Heads,  still  hopeful 
of  the  return  of  their  brethren,  hearing  that  another  missionary 
expedition  was  on  the  way,  renewed  their  hope,  thinking  that 
these,  likely,  were  the  long-expected  ones. 

Prompted  by  such  hope,  Insula,  known  among  his  people  as 
the  "Little  Chief  and  Great  Warrior,"  accompanied  by  several 
others  of  the  tribe,  started  out  to  meet  the  supposed  Black 
Robes.  Attacked  on  the  road  by  hostiles,  Insula's  party  fought 
their  way  through,  and  reached  the  rendezvous  on  Green  River, 
where  they  met  a  number  of  representatives  of  other  tribes. 
To  their  great  disappointment,  none  of  the  four  who  had  gone 
to  the  white  man's  country  for  missionaries  was  there;  nor 
did  they  hear  any  news  of  them,  and  the  supposed  Black  Robes 
were  no  others  than  the  Rev.  S.  Parker  and  Dr.  M.  Whitman. 

These  gentlemen,  having  assembled  the  Indians,  introduced 
themselves  as  envoys  and  missionaries,  who  had  been  sent  to 
preach  to  them  and  establish  missions  in  their  midst.  Some 
Nez  Perces  chiefs  who  were  with  the  rest,  were  rather  pleased 
with  the  men,  and  showed  themselves  disposed  to  accept  them 
as  their  teachers.  Upon  these  manifestations  of  good  will  on 
the  part  of  the  group  of  Nez  Perces  present,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Parker  and  Dr.  Whitman  held  a  conference  and  resolved  that, 
while  the  former  would  continue  his  tour  of  exploration,  the 
latter  would  return  to  the  States  in  order  to  secure  missionaries 
for  both  the  Flat  Heads  and  Nez  Perces  nations. 

But  our  "Little  Chief  and  Great  Warrior,"  Insula,  and  his 
followers,  were  not  quite  satisfied  with  the  looks  nor  with  the 
message  of  the  missionaries.  They  appeared  too  much  like 
the  others,  the  Lee  party,  who  had  passed  through  their  country 
the  preceding  summer.  They  too  married  and  they,  too,  like 
the  others,  had  no  black  gown,  no  cross,  nor  the  great  prayer. 
From  all  this  Insula  concluded  that  neither  were  these  the 
teachers   spoken   of   by   their   adopted   brethren,   the   Iroquois. 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONARIES  DECLINED  23 

Consequently,  he  and  his  band  would  have  nothing  further  to 
do  with  them. 

That  such  was  really  the  conclusion  arrived  at  by  Insula  and 
his  people  was  made  evident  the  following  summer,  1836,  when 
Dr.  Whitman  returned  with  assistants,  brought  out  to  establish 
the  (contemplated  missions  among  the  Flat  Heads  and  Nez 
Perces.  The  party  consisted  of  Dr.  Whitman  himself  and  his 
bride;  the  Rev.  H.  H.  Spalding  and  wife,  and  Mr.  W.  H.  Gray. 
While  the  Nez  Perces  had  come  to  meet  these  missionary  ladies 
and  gentlemen,  according  to  agreement  made  with  Dr.  Whitman 
the  preceding  year,  the  Flat  Heads  were  conspicuous  by  their 
absence.  None  of  their  tribe  showed  up,  accentuating  thus, 
once  more,  their  determination  to  have  no  others  but  Catholic 
missionaries.  The  meaning  of  the  fact  that  no  Flat  Head  had 
come  to  meet  them  was  well  understood  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Spald- 
ing and  Dr.  Whitman,  who,  consequently,  with  their  wives,  went 
to  establish  themselves  on  the  upper  Columbia,  the  former  at 
Lapwai,  the  latter  among  the  Cayuses. 

It  was  the  country  where  the  Rev.  Samuel  Parker,  a  short 
time  before,  had  taught  the  Indians  to  place  two  stones,  instead 
of  a  cross,  over  the  graves  of  their  dead,  and  had  preached  to 
them  Christianity  by  breaking  the  symbol  of  Christianity  to 
pieces  with  his  own  hands  under  their  very  eyes.  Here  is  the 
fact,  as  related  by  himself : 

The  night  of  our  arrival  [he  writes  in  his  Journal  of  an  Exploring 
Tour]  a  little  girl  of  six  or  seven  years  of  age  died.  The  morning 
of  the  1 2th  they  buried  her.  In  this  instance  they  had  prepared  a 
cross  to  set  up  on  the  grave,  most  probably  having  been  told  so  by 
some  Iroquois  Indians,  a  few  of  whom,  not  in  the  capacity  of  teachers 
but  as  trappers  in  the  employ  of  the  Fur  Company,  I  saw  west  of  the 
mountains.  But  as  I  viewed  the  cross  of  wood  made  by  men's  hands, 
of  no  avail  to  benefit  the  dead  or  living — I  took  this  which  the  Indians 
had  prepared  and  broke  it  to  pieces.  I  then  told  them  that  we  placed 
a  stone  at  the  head  and  foot  of  the  grave  to  mark  the  place. 

Thus  missionary  Parker  and  the  scandalous  deed  are  still 
remembered  by  the  red  men  along  the  Columbia. 

But  what  followed  a  few  years  later  made  it  also  clear  that 
the  Crossless  Christianity  preached  by  this  Rev.  gentleman 
and  others  like  unto  him,  was  insufficient  to  change  the  nature 


24         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

of  savages;  nor  did  it  prevent  them  from  rising  up  and  merci- 
lessly murdering  their  white-skinned  brethren. 

Another  attempt  to  establish  a  Protestant  mission  among  the 
Flat  Heads  was  made  a  year  or  so  later,  Mr.  W.  H.  Gray  being 
detailed  to  the  task.  But  this  last  effort  to  force  unwished 
teachers  upon  them  proved  as  abortive  as  the  preceding  ones. 
We  shall  see  in  the  next  chapter  that,  whilst  Mr.  Gray  was 
attempting  to  establish  a  station  among  the  Flat  Heads,  another 
Flat  Head  delegation  was  on  the  road  to  St.  Louis,  to  secure 
Catholic  missionaries,  Mr.  Gray  himself  falling  in  and  traveling 
part  of  the  way  with  the  same  delegation. 


Chapter  V. 

OTHER  EXPEDITIONS  SENT  FORTH  BY  THE  FLAT  HEADS 
TO  SECURE  CATFIOLIC   MISSIONARIES 

THE  Protestant  expedition  that  had  passed  through  their 
land  in  1834,  and  still  more,  the  report  made  by  Insula 
and  his  party  upon  their  return  from  Green  river  in  the  summer 
of  1835,  convinced  the  Flat  Heads  that  their  first  deputation 
had  failed.  They  were  greatly  disappointed,  but  not  discouraged. 
On  the  contrary,  their  very  disappointment  seemed  to  increase 
rather  than  diminish  their  yearning  for  the  true  Black  Robe. 
Hence,  another  expedition  was  resolved  upon  shortly  after 
Insula's  return. 

It  was  Old  Ignace  himself  this  time  who  offered  to  go,  and 
we  are  inclined  to  believe  that  the  news  brought  to  the  tribe 
by  the  Green  river  band  prompted  his  resolution  and  hastened 
his  departure,  in  order,  perhaps,  to  forestall  the  intrusion  of 
non-Catholic  teachers  among  the  Flat  Heads. 

He  left  late  in  the  summer  of  1835,  and  took  with  him  his 
two  sons,  Charles  and  Francis,  lads  between  twelve  and  four- 
teen years  of  age,  for  the  purpose  of  having  them  solemnly 
baptized,  and  perhaps  also  confirmed,  though  of  this  latter  we 
have  no  direct  evidence.  Old  Ignace  started  with  the  intention 
of  going  to  Canada,  the  place  of  his  birth,  where  he  thought 
he  could  more  easily  obtain  missionaries,  this  being,  as  just 
said,  the  principal  purpose  of  his  long  journey.  Learning, 
however,  that  there  were  Jesuit  Fathers  in  St.  Louis,  he  turned 
his  steps  in  that  direction  and  reached  the  place  late  in  the  fall, 
after  many  privations  and  sufferings. 

His  two  sons  were  baptized  by  one  of  the  Fathers  at  the 
College  on  the  eve  of  the  feast  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  Decem- 
ber 2,  1835,  according  to  the  record  of  their  baptism,  for  a 
copy  of  which  we  are  indebted  to  Father  Thos.  Sherman.  The 
record  is  as  follows :   "1835  2  Deccmbris  Carolus  &  Franciscus 


26         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

Xaverius  Ignatii  Partus  Indiani  ex  vitlgo  Flat  Heads  solcmniter 
baptizati  fnerunt."* 

Ignace  pleaded  the  cause  of  the  Flat  Heads  with  Bishop 
Rosati;  and  with  the  latter's  assurance  that  missionaries  would 
be  sent  to  them  as  soon  as  possible,  he  left  with  his  two  sons 
and  safely  returned  to  the  mountains. 

His  son  Francis  is  still  living  and  has  been  a  personal  friend 
of  the  writer  for  very  many  years;  and  perhaps  in  the  whole 
of  Missoula  County  there  is  not  a  man  more  respected  by  white 
and  Indian  than  Frangois  Saxa,  the  name  by  which  he  is  known. 

Eighteen  months  having  passed  after  Old  Ignace's  return, 
and  no  tidings  of  any  Black  Robe  being  on  the  way,  a  third 
expedition  went  forth  in  the  summer  of  1837.  This  third  dele- 
gation consisted  of  three  Flat  Heads  proper,  one  Nez  Perce 
and  Old  Ignace  himself,  the  leader  of  the  party,  five  in  all. 
At  or  near  Fort  Laramie,  our  little  band  was  joined  by  some 
whites,  one  of  the  number  being  W.  H.  Gray,  whom  we  have 
already  met  in  company  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Spalding  and  Dr. 
Whitman. 

W.  H.  Gray  was  going  back  to  the  States  from  the  Presby- 
terian missions  on  the  Columbia,  the  object  of  his  present 
journey  being  to  secure  assistants  for  the  establishment  of  a 
Presbyterian  mission  among  the  Flat  Heads.  In  furtherance 
of  his  plan  he  purposely  passed  through  the  Bitter  Root  Valley, 
to  make  a  personal  inspection  of  the  field,  instead  of  following 
the  usual  route  more  to  the  south.  That  he  received  no  encour- 
agement from  the  Flat  Heads  is  evident  from  the  fact  of  his 
meeting  with  Ignace  and  companions  who,  according  to  Mr. 
Gray  himself,  were  going  "to  urge  the  claim  for  teachers  to  come 
among  them." 

Our  Indians  and  Mr.  Gray's  party  were  now  traveling  together, 
and  while  passing  through  the  country  of  the  hostile  Sioux,  at 
a  point  called  Ash  Hollow,  on  the  South  Platte,  they  fell  in 
with  a  large  war  party  of  that  tribe.  Being  attacked,  our  little 
band  bravely  defended  themselves,   killing  some  fifteen  of  their 

*  It  is  probable  that  the  solemnities  of  the  rite  only  were  here  supplied, 
with  perhaps  conditional  baptism.  It  does  not  seem  likely  that  so  good  a 
Christian  as  Ignace,  would  not  give  his  two  sons  private  baptism,  when  he 
could  easily  have  done  so  and  the  circumstances  of  the  case  rendered  it 
perfectly  legitimate. 


FLAT  HEADS  SEEK  CATHOLIC  MISSIONARIES  27 

assailants.     But  they  were  greatly  outnumbered  by  the  foe,  and 
all  five  perished  in  the  unequal  struggle. 

Old  Ignace  was  dressed  like  a  white  man,  and  he  had  been 
ordered  to  stand  apart  with  the  whites.  But  he  spurned  the 
command,  and  preferred  to  share  the  lot  of  his  adopted  brethren. 
Thus  perished  the  one  who  may  justly  be  called  the  apostle  of 
the  Flat  Heads. 

The  untimely  taking  away  of  Old  Ignace  and  his  companions 
was  a  rude  shock  and  caused  the  greatest  grief  to  the  whole 
tribe.  It  did  not,  however,  shake  in  the  least  their  determination 
to  secure  Black  Robes,  because  soon  after  a  fourth  delegation 
was  resolved  upon  in  one  of  their  councils.  Two  of  the  Iroquois 
adopted  by  the  Flat  Heads  showed  themselves  willing  to  under- 
take the  task,  undismayed  by  the  previous  failures  and  the  last 
disaster.  This  final  effort  was  destined  to  be  crowned  with 
success.* 

The  two  Iroquois  who  formed  the  fourth  delegation,  were 
Peter  Gaucher  (Left-hand  Peter)  and  Young  Ignace,  so  called 
to  distinguish  him  from  Old  Ignace.  Leaving  their  Flat  Head 
home  in  the  summer  of  1839,  they  joined  some  Hudson  Bay 
Company  men  about  to  make  the  voyage  to  St.  Louis  by  canoe. 
Their  course  lay  naturally  down  the  Yellowstone  River  and  the 
Missouri.  In  passing  St.  Joseph's  Mission,  at  Council  Bluffs, 
they  stopped  to  confer  with  the  priests  in  charge,  and  it  is 
indeed  a  remarkable  coincidence  that  they  should  have  met 
there  the  very  man  destined  to  comply  in  person  with  their  long- 
cherished  desires.  Their  visit  is  thus  described  by  Father  De 
Smet : 

On  the  18th  of  last  September  two  Catholic  Iroquois  came  to  visit 
us.  They  had  been  for  twenty-three  years  among  the  nation  called 
the  Flatheads  and  Pierced  Noses,  about  a  thousand  Flemish  leagues 
from  where  we  are.  I  have  never  seen  any  savages  so  fervent  in 
religion.  By  their  instructions  and  examples  they  have  given  all 
that  nation  a  great  desire  to  have  themselves  baptized.  All  that  tribe 
strictly  observe  Sunday  and  assemble  several  times  a  week  to  pray 
and  sing  canticles.  The  sole  object  of  these  good  Iroquois  was  to 
obtain  a  priest  to  come  and  finish  what  they  had  so  happily  com- 

*The  particulars  just  related  were  learnt  by  Father  De  Smet  from  the 
traders  at  Fort  Laramie,  who  had  them  from  the  Sioux  themselves. 


28         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

menced.  We  gave  them  letters  for  our  Rev.  Father  Superior  at  St. 
Louis.  They  thought  nothing  of  adding  three  hundred  leagues  to 
the  thousand  they  had  already  accomplished  in  the  hope  that  their 
request  would  be  granted.* 

The  two  brave  Iroquois  arrived  safely  in  St.  Louis  and,  having 
laid  the  desires  of  their  tribe  before  Bishop  Rosati,  they  were 
assured  by  him  that  a  priest  would  be  sent  to  them  in  the 
following  spring. 

But  before  proceeding  any  further  with  our  narrative,  we 
must  listen  again  to  Bishop  Rosati,  who  as  an  eye-witness  of 
several  of  the  facts  just  related,  cannot  but  shed  much  light  also 
on  the  rest. 

In  a  letter  dated  "St.  Louis,  Oct.  20,  1839,"  and  addressed 
to  the  Father  General  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  at  Rome,  Bishop 
Rosati  wrote  as  follows : 

Reverend  Father: 

Eight  or  nine  years  ago  (1831)  some  of  the  Flathead  nation  came 
to  St.  Louis.  The  object  of  their  journey  was  to  ascertain  if  the 
religion  spoken  of  with  so  much  praise  by  the  Iroquois  warriors  was 
in  reality  such  as  represented  and,  above  all,  if  the  nations  that  have 
white  skin  had  adopted  and  practised  it.  Soon  after  their  arrival  in 
St.  Louis  they  fell  sick,  called  for  a  priest  and  earnestly  asked  to  be 
baptized.  Their  request  was  promptly  granted  and  they  received 
holy  baptism  with  great  devotion.  Then  holding  the  crucifix  they 
covered  it  with  affectionate  kisses  and  expired. f 

Some  years  after  (1835)  the  Flathead  nation  sent  again  one  of  the 
Iroquois  nation  (Old  Ignace)  to  St.  Louis.  There  he  came  with 
two  of  his  children,  who  were  instructed  and  baptized  by  the  Fathers 
of  the  College.  He  asked  missionaries  for  his  countrymen  and  started 
with  the  hope  that  one  day  the  desire  of  the  nation  would  be  accom- 
plished, but  on  his  journey  he  was  killed  by  the  infidel  Indians  of 
the  Sioux  nation.$ 

*  Life,  Letters  and  Travels  of  Pierre-Jean  De  Smet,  S.  J.  by  Hiram  Martin 
Chittenden  and  Alfred  Talbot  Richardson,  four  Vol.  New  York:  Francis  P. 
Harper  1905.  A  scholarly  and  interesting  work,  evincing  great  research  and, 
historically,  of  more  than  ordinary  merit. 

t  All  the  members  of  that  first  deputation  fell  sick  in  St.  Louis.  As  two 
of  the  four  recovered,  it  is  evident  that  Bishop  Rosati  speaks  here  of  the 
two  who  died. 

$This  last  statement  in  Bishop  Rosati's  letter  must  have  originated  from 
his  not  distinguishing  with  sufficient  precision  in  the  information  given  him, 
the  fact  that  it  was  on  his  going  back  to  St.  Louis  the  second  time,  as  we 


FLAT  HEADS  SEEK  CATHOLIC  MISSIONARIES  29 

At  last  a  third  expedition  (Peter  Gaucher  and  Young  Ignace) 
arrived  at  St.  Louis  after  a  voyage  of  three  months.  It  was  com- 
posed of  two  Christian  Iroquois.  Those  Indians,  who  talk  French, 
have  edified  us  by  their  truly  exemplary  conduct  and  interested  us 
by  their  discourses.  The  Fathers  of  the  College  have  heard  their 
confessions  and  to-day  they  approached  the  holy  table  at  high  mass 
in  the  Cathedral  Church.  Afterwards  I  administered  to  them  the 
sacrament  of  Confirmation,  and  in  an  address  delivered  after  the 
ceremony  I  rejoiced  with  them  at  their  happiness  and  gave  them 
the  hope  of  soon  having  a  priest. 

They  will  depart  to-morrow:  one  of  them  will  carry  the  good 
news  promptly  to  the  Flat  Heads,  the  other  will  spend  the  winter 
at  the  mouth  of  Bear  river,  and  in  the  spring  he  will  continue  the 
journey  with  the  missionary  whom  we  will  send  them.* 

Of  the  twenty-four  Iroquois  who  formerly  emigrated  from  Canada, 
[continues  Bishop  Rosati,]  only  four  are  still  living.  Not  only 
have  they  planted  the  faith  in  those  wild  countries,  but  they  have 
besides  defended  it  against  the  encroachments  of  the  Protestant 
ministers.  When  these  missionaries  presented  themselves  among 
them,  our  good  Catholics  refused  to  accept  them.  "These  are  not 
the  priests  about  whom  we.  have  spoken  to  you,"  they  would  say  to 
the  Flat  Heads ;  "These  are  not  the  long  black-robed  priests  who 
have  no  wives,  who  say  mass,  who  carry  the  crucifix  with  them." 
For  the  love  of  God,  my  Very  Reverend  Father,  do  not  abandon 
these  souls  !t 

have  seen,  and  not  on  his  return  to  the  mountains,  that  Ignace  was  killed  by 
the  Sioux.  Apart  from  this  trifling  inaccuracy  which,  under  the  circum- 
stances, can  easily  be  accounted  for,  the  Bishop's  statement  is  perfectly 
correct. 

*  The  one  of  the  two  who  was  to  accompany  the  missionary,  namely,  Young 
Ignace,  instead  of  going  to  spend  the  winter  at  the  mouth  of  Bear  river, 
spent  it  at  Florissant. 

f  From  the  fact  that  four  deputations  were  sent  out  by  the  Flat  Heads 
and  but  three  of  them  reached  St.  Louis,  has  arisen  much  confusion  about 
the  real  number,  some  making  it  three,  others  four.  The  discrepancy  dis- 
appears at  once  by  simply  observing  that  those  who  mention  only  three,  speak 
of  the  deputations  that  reached  St.  Louis,  as  made  evident  by  Bishop  Rosati's 
letter ;  whereas  they  who  mention  four,  speak  of  the  expeditions  that  set  out 
for  St.  Louis  from  the  Flat  Head  country,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  were  four. 


Chapter  VI. 

FATHER  P.   J.   DE  SMET,  S.   J. HIS  FIRST   JOURNEY  TO  THE 

ROCKY  MOUNTAINS. 

THE  priest  whom  Providence  had  destined  for  the  new  field 
was  no  other  than  Peter  John  De  Smet,  S.  J.,  now  about 
to  enter  a  career  of  world-wide  fame  as  the  apostle  of  the 
Northwest. 

Termonde,  a  prosperous,  neat  little  town  of  East  Flanders, 
Belgium,  and  situated  at  the  confluence  of  the  Sheld  and  Dender, 
gave  birth  to  the  future  missionary  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
January  31,  1801.  At  an  early  date  he  entered  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  and  afterward  crossed  the  Atlantic,  desirous  of  service 
on  the  American  Missions.  Seemingly  poor  health  not  long 
after  brought  him  back  to  his  native  country,  whence,  however, 
he  returned  to  the  United  States  in  1837. 

In  1837  our  American  Bishops,  assembled  in  the  First  Plenary 
Council  of  Baltimore,  confided  the  spiritual  care  of  the  Indians 
to  the  Society  of  Jesus,  and  Father  De  Smet,  one  year  after 
his  return  to  America  was  detailed  by  the  Superiors  to  open 
a  mission  among  the  Potowatamies  in  Kansas.  He  was  planning 
to  extend  his  missionary  work  further,  when  our  two  brave 
Iroquois,  Peter  Gaucher  and  Young  Ignace,  arrived  from  the 
Flat  Head  country,  to  plead  anew  the  cause  of  their  brethren 
in  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

Fired  with  zeal  for  souls  and  moved  by  the  faith,  constancy 
and  earnestness  of  these  children  of  the  forest,  Father  De  Smet 
felt  drawn  toward  them,  and  resolved  to  do  all  in  his  power 
in  their  behalf,  by  offering  himself  to  his  Superiors  to  labor 
among  them.  On  the  matter  being  discussed,  it  seemed  preferable 
that  two  Fathers  should  be  sent,  but  sufficient  means  to  the 
amount  of  $1,000,  even  by  loan,  could  not  be  raised  to  defray 
the  expenses  of  the  expedition.  It  was  therefore  decided  that 
Father  De  Smet  should  go  without  a  confrere. 

As  soon  as  spring  opened,  Father  De  Smet  set  out  on  his 


FATHER  P.  J.  DE  SMET,  S.  J.  31 

long  journey  with  Young  Ignace,  who  had  remained  behind 
to  be  his  guide,  while  Peter  Gaucher,  as  may  be  inferred  from 
Bishop  Rosati's  letter,  had  started  for  home  in  the  latter  part 
of  October  to  bring  the  good  tidings  to  the  nation.  The  Father 
left  St.  Louis  March  27,  going  by  boat  to  Westport,  now 
Kansas  City,  where  he  joined  the  annual  expedition  of  the 
American  Fur  Company.  With  a  party  numbering  about  thirty 
he  left  Westport  April  30,  going  thence  to  a  point  on  Green 
River  which  was  at  the  time  the  rendezvous  for  all  western 
travellers. 

About  the  time  that  Father  De  Smet  was  leaving  St.  Louis, 
Peter  Gaucher  appeared  most  unexpectedly  in  the  Flat  Head 
camp  on  Eight  Mile  Creek  in  the  Bitter  Root  Valley,  bringing 
the  news  that  Black  Robe  was  surely  coming,  led  by  Young 
Ignace.  Peter's  journey  home  from  St.  Louis  at  that  season 
may  be  considered  indeed  a  very  remarkable  feat.  Death  had 
stared  him  in  the  face  from  cold  and  starvation.  The  announce- 
ment that  the  priest  was  coming  brought  joy  to  the  whole 
tribe,  and  the  chief  at  once  detailed  ten  of  his  warriors  to  go 
ahead  and  meet  the  man  of  God  and  escort  him  into  their  camp, 
while  he  would  follow  on  with  the  rest  of  his  people. 

The  Westport  caravan  arrived  at  Green  River  on  June  30  and 
here  a  most  delightful  surprise  was  in  store  for  Father  De  Smet. 
The  Flat  Head  warriors,  sent  ahead  to  meet  him,  had  reached 
the  spot  sometime  before  and  were  waiting  for  him.  On  the 
following  Sunday,  July  5,  he  celebrated  Mass  before  a  motly,  yet 
respectful  crowd  of  Indians  and  whites,  the  latter  being  mostly 
fur  traders,  hunters  and  trappers.  The  altar  was  erected  on  a 
little  elevation  and  decorated  with  boughs  and  garlands  of  wild 
flowers.  The  temple,  the  most  magnificent  of  God's  own  making, 
had  for  vault  the  azure  sky,  and  for  floor  the  boundless  expanse 
of  the  Wilderness.  The  spot,  from  that  time  on,  became  known 
to  both  Indians  and  whites  as  "The  Prairie  of  the  Mass."    . 

Bidding  adieu  to  his  traveling  companions  of  the  plains,  the 
next  day  Father  De  Smet,  with  his  escort,  started  toward  the 
head  waters  of  the  Snake  river,  and  some  eight  days'  journey 
through  mountain  defiles  brought  him  to  the  main  body  of  the 
Flat  Heads.  They  were  encamped  in  Pierre  Hole  valley,  on  the 
line  that  separates   Idaho   from  Wyoming  south  of   Pleasant 


32         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

Valley,  having  come  so  far  from  their  home,  some  800  miles  to 
meet  the  missionary.  They  had  been  joined  at  the  start  and  on 
the  road  by  detached  bands  of  other  tribes,  Nez  Perces,  Pend 
d'Oreilles  and  Kalispels,  numbering,  all  told,  some  1,600  souls, 
and  had  already  set  up  in  their  midst  a  lodge  for  the  missionary. 
Upon  the  Father's  arrival  in  the  camp  there  was  the  most  lively 
demonstration  of  joy,  in  which  all,  men,  women  and  children, 
took  part.  "Immediately  the  whole  village  was  in  commotion," 
wrote  Father  De  Smet  to  his  friend,  Father  Barbelin,  "men, 
women,  and  children  all  came  to  meet  me  and  shake  hands,  and 
I  was  conducted  in  triumph  to  the  lodge  of  the  great  chief  who 
had  the  appearance  of  a  patriarch."  Surrounded  by  the  leading 
men  and  principal  warriors  of  the  nation,  the  great  chief,  whose 
name  was  the  "Big  Face,"  addressed  Father  De  Smet  as  follows : 

This  day  the  Great  Spirit  has  accomplished  our  wishes  and  our 
hearts  are  swelled  with  joy.  Our  desire  to  be  instructed  was  so 
great  that  three  times  we  had  deputed  our  people  to  the  great  Black 
Robe  in  St.  Louis  to  obtain  priests.  Now,  Father,  speak  and  we 
will  comply  with  all  that  you  will  tell  us.  Show  us  the  way  we  have 
to  go  to  the  home  of  the  Great  Spirit. 

Then,  says  Father  De  Smet,  "he  resigned  his  authority  to  me ; 
but  I  replied  that  he  mistook  the  object  of  my  coming  among 
them;  that  I  had  no  other  object  in  view  but  the  salvation  of 
their  souls,  and  that  they  were  to  remain  as  they  were,  until 
circumstances  should  allow  them  to  settle  in  a  permanent  spot." 

After  having  settled  on  the  hours  proper  for  prayers  and 
instructions,  one  of  the  chiefs  brought  Father  De  Smet  a  little 
bell,  with  which  he  was  to  give  the  sign  to  call  them  together. 
"The  same  evening,"  continues  Father  De  Smet,  "about  two 
thousand  persons  were  assembled  before  my  lodge,  to  recite 
night  prayers  in  common.  The  prayers  having  been  said,  a 
solemn  canticle  of  praise,  of  their  own  composition,  was  sung  by 
these  children  of  the  mountains  to  the  Author  of  their  being.  It 
would  be  impossible  for  me,"  he  adds,  "to  describe  the  emotions 
I  felt  at  this  moment.  I  wept  for  joy  and  admired  the  wonderful 
ways  of  that  kind  Providence  which  in  His  infinite  mercy  had 
deigned  to  send  me  to  these  poor  people,  to  announce  to  them  the 
glad  tidings  of  salvation." 


The  Rev.  P.  J.  De  Smet,  S.J. 

FIRST    APOSTLE   OF   THE    NORTHWEST 


The  Rev.  Joseph  Cataldo,  S.J. 

DEAN   OF   THE   INDIAN    MISSIONARIES 


FATHER  P.  J.  DESMET.S.  J.  33 

With  marvelous  eagerness  the  whole  tribe  set  about  learning 
their  religious  duties.  "The  great  chief,"  writes  Father  De  Smet, 
"was  first  up  in  the  morning  at  the  dawn  of  day,  and  mounted 
on  his  horse,  would  ride  through  the  camp  to  arouse  his  people, 
crying  out  to  them:  'Come,  courage  my  children;  open  your  eyes. 
Address  your  first  thoughts  and  words  to  the  Great  Spirit.  Tell 
Him  that  you  love  Him  and  ask  Him  to  have  pity  on  you. 
Courage,  for  the  sun  is  about  to  appear ;  it  is  time  that  you  went 
to  the  river  to  wash  yourselves.  Be  prompt  at  your  Father's 
lodge  at  the  first  sound  of  the  bell;  be  quiet  when  you  are  there; 
open  your  ears  to  hear  and  your  hearts  to  hold  fast  all  the  words 
that  he  says  to  you.'  " 

A  few  days  after  the  whole  camp  was  on  the  move  along 
Henry's  Fork,  of  the  Snake  River,  to  Henry's  Lake  which  is  its 
source.  Here  Father  De  Smet,  on  July  23,  ascended  one  of  the 
peaks,  rising  from  the  top  of  the  main  range,  and,  with  a  pocket 
knife,  engraved  on  the  soft  stone  the  following  inscription: 

SANCTUS  IGNATIUS   PATRONUS  MONTIUM die  2$  JlllU   184O.* 

And  here  also,  his  soul,  overflowing  with  emotion  at  the  inspir- 
ing solemnity  and  grandeur  of  the  scene  before  him,  broke  forth 
in  the  following  rhyme,  which  is  transcribed  from  his  diary : 
"Salut  Roche  Majestueuse! 

Futur  asile  de  bonheur, 

Des  ses  tresors  le  Divin  Cceur 

T'ouvre  aujourd  'hui  la  source  hereuse." 
This  may  be  rendered : 

"Ye  Rockies  hail!     Majestic  Mounts! 

Of  future  bliss  the  favored  shrine. 

For  you  God's  Heart  Divine 

Opens  this  day  its  precious  founts." 
Moving  thence  a  short  distance,  they  crossed  what  is  now  the 
Idaho  line  and  camped  in  Montana;  first,  at  the  head-waters  of 
the  Beaverhead  River,  not  far  from  Red  Rock  Lake ;  then,  along 
the  banks  of  the  same  river  and  in  the  Big  Hole  basin ;  finally, 
on  Jefferson  Island,  at  the  lower  end  of  the  Boulder  Valley,  near 

♦The  date  July  27,  on  page  34  of  Life,  Letters  and  Travels  of  Father 
P.  J.  De  Smet,  S.  J.,  by  Chittenden  and  Richardson,  is  evidently  a  misprint 
or  an  oversight.  This  can  be  seen  at  once  by  comparing  it  with  the  correct 
date  on  page  230  of  the  same  work. 


34         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

the  three  forks  of  the  Missouri.  Thus,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Beaverhead-Jefferson  River,  Christianity  was  first  preached  and 
the  holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass  was  first  celebrated  in  Montana. 

Begun  on  the  very  day  of  his  arrival,  Father  De  Smet's 
missionary  work  among  those  good  Indians  continued  unabated 
to  the  moment  of  his  departure.  What  his  labors  were,  as  well 
as  the  earnestness  of  his  pupils  to  profit  by  them,  may  be 
gathered  from  the  following  letter,  which  he  wrote  from  his  last 
camping  place  near  the  three  forks  of  the  Missouri.  It  was 
addressed  to  the  Very  Rev.  F.  N.  Blanchet,  V.G.  (afterward 
first  Archbishop  of  Portland,  Oregon),  and  ran  as  follows: 

Very  Reverend  Sir: 

Your  Reverence  will  be  glad  to  learn  that  Mgr.  Rosati,  Bishop  of 
St.  Louis,  in  concert  with  my  provincial  Superior  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus  in  Missouri  and  in  compliance  with  the  desire  often  repeated  of 
the  Flat  Heads,  Pend  d'Oreilles,  and  a  great  number  of  Nez  Perces, 
has  sent  me  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  visit  these  missions.  I  have 
found  the  first  two  in  the  best  desirable  disposition,  well  resolved  to 
stand  by  the  true  children  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  few  weeks  I  had 
the  happiness  to  pass  among  them  have  been  the  happiest  of  my 
life  and  give  me  firm  hope,  with  the  grace  of  God,  to  see  soon  in 
this  country,  so  long  forsaken,  the  fervor  of  the  first  Christians. 
Since  I  am  among  them  I  have  three,  four  and  five  instructions  daily. 
They  cannot  be  tired,  all  come  to  my  lodge  at  the  first  ringing  of 
the  bell.  They  are  anxious  to  lose  none  of  my  words  relating  to 
these  instructions  on  these  heavenly  subjects,  and  if  I  had  the  strength 
to  speak  to  them  they  would  listen  to  me  whole  days  and  nights.  I 
have  baptized  about  two  hundred  of  their  little  children  and  I  expect 
to  baptize  in  a  short  time  one  hundred  and  fifty  adults. 

The  Very  Rev.  F.  N.  Blanchet  had  crossed  the  Rocky 
Mountains  two  years  before  and  was  devoting  himself  at  this 
time  to  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  French  Canadians  and  the 
Indians  on  the  banks  of  the  Willamette  and  along  the  Columbia. 

Father  De  Smet's  letter  was  sent  through  Indians  and  Hudson 
Bay  Company  men  to  Colville,  and  thence  brought  to  St.  Paul, 
Oregon,  and  handed  to  the  Very  Rev.  F.  N.  Blanchet  by  his 
missionary  companion,  the  Rev.  Modest  Demers,  afterward  first 
Bishop  of  Vancouver  Island.* 

*  Mgr.  Joseph  Signay,  Bishop  of  Quebec,  gave  the  charge  of  the  mission 
of  Oregon  to  Abbe  F.  N.   Blanchet  whom  by  letters  dated  April   17,   1838, 


FATHER  P.  J.  DE  SMET,  S.  J.  35 

From  all  he  saw  of  those  dusky  children  of  the  forest,  Father 
De  Smet  became  convinced  that  there  was  here  a  field  of  real 
promise.  Hence  his  intention  of  hastening  back  to  St.  Louis,  to 
urge  the  establishment  of  a  permanent  mission  among  the  Flat 
Heads.  He  laid  open  his  mind  to  the  tribe,  who  felt  greatly 
pleased  at  the  proposal;  and  the  assurance  that  he  would  return 
in  the  spring  with  other  Black  Robes  to  stay  among  them 
tempered  their  grief  for  his  departure.  Upon  this  he  bade  a 
hearty  farewell  to  all  his  neophytes  and  set  out  on  his  homeward 
journey. 

Father  De  Smet  had  picked  up  at  the  rendezvous  on  Green 
river  a  good  Fleming  from  Ghent,  John  Baptiste  de  Velder,  an 
old  grenadier  of  Napoleon,  who  had  left  his  native  country  at 
the  age  of  thirty,  and  had  passed  the  last  fourteen  years  in  the 
wilds  of  the  Rockies  in  the  capacity  of  beaver  hunter.  He  had 
almost  forgotten  the  Flemish  language,  says  Father  De  Smet, 
excepting  his  prayers  and  a  song  which  he  had  learned  at  his 
mother's  knees  and  which  he  repeated  every  day.  This  man' 
stayed  by  the  Father  during  the  journey  to  St.  Louis,  being  at 
times  his  only  companion. 

From  the  Gallatin  valley,  where  he  parted  with  the  main  body 
of  the  Flat  Heads,  on  August  27,  Father  De  Smet  and  his 
companion,  de  Velder,  crossed  over  the  Yellowstone  country, 
being  escorted  for  a  considerable  distance  by  a  number  of  Flat 
Head  warriors.  Our  travelers'  course  lay  through  the  land  of  the 
Crows,  Blackfeet,  Gros  Ventres,  Assiniboines,  and  the  Sioux. 
Passing  safely  an  Assiniboine  party,  they  fell  in  with  a  fierce  band 
of  Blackfeet,  who  at  once  surrounded  them.  The  long  black 
gown  of  the  misisonary,  the  crucifix,  which  glittered  on  his 
bosom  whenever  he  journeyed  in  the  Indian  country,  arrested 
the  eyes  of  the  Blackfoot  chief.  "Who  art  thou?"  asked  he.  "He 
is  a  Black  Bobe,"  said  the  Father's  companion,  who  had  some 
knowledge  of  the  language.  "He  is  the  man  who  speaks  to  the 
Great  Spirit."     In  a  moment  all  was  changed.     Invited  to  eat 

he  appointed  his  Vicar  General  with  jurisdiction  over  the  whole  territory 
west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  Abbe  Modeste  Demers,  a  young  priest 
who  had  been  ordained  the  previous  year,  was  appointed  his  assistant.  They 
went  to  Oregon  together  in  1838  and  are  both  founders  of  that  Mission. 
Pioneer  Catholic  History  of  Oregon,  by  Edwin  V.  O'Hara ;  Portland,  Oregon, 
1911 


36         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

with  the  missionary,  the  chief  showed  still  greater  respect  when 
he  saw  him  address  the  Great  Spirit  before  the  frugal  meal.  This 
ended,  twelve  Indians  stretched  a  buffalo  robe  before  the  Father, 
with  motions  indicating  their  wish  that  he  should  be  seated  upon 
it.  Supposing  it  was  intended  for  a  mat,  he  did  so;  but  they 
raised  it  aloft,  and  so  bore  him  in  triumph  to  their  village.  There, 
too,  he  was  treated  with  every  honor.  "It  is  the  happiest  day  of 
my  life,"  said  the  chief.  "It  is  the  first  time  that  we  see  among 
us  the  Black  Robe,  the  man  who  speaks  to  the  Great  Spirit. 
These  are  the  braves  of  my  tribe;  and  I  have  brought  thee  here 
that  the  remembrance  of  thy  presence  may  be  forever  engraved 
on  their  memories." 

The  missionary  and  his  companion  directed  their  course  toward 
Fort  Union  on  the  Missouri,  a  little  above  the  mouth  of  the 
Yellowstone.  Here  they  rested  a  few  days,  resuming  their 
journey  on  September  23,  toward  Fort  Clark,  where  they  made 
a  short  stop.  Having  reached  Forts  Pierre  and  Vermillion,  they 
took  a  canoe,  under  the  guidance  of  an  Iroquois  half-breed,  who 
landed  them  safe  at  St.  Joseph  Mission  or  Council  Bluffs,  on 
November  24.  The  river  closed  with  ice  the  next  day,  and 
Father  De  Smet  made  the  rest  of  the  journey  by  land,  arriving 
at  St.  Louis  among  his  brethren  on  the  last  day  of  the  year.* 

*  Life,  Letters  and  Travels  of  Father  De  Smet,  by  Chittenden  and  Richardson. 


Chapter  VII. 

FATHER  P.   J.   DE  SMET  RETURNS  TO  THE  MOUNTAINS 
ACCOMPANIED  BY  OTHER   MISSIONARIES. 

THE  safe  return  of  Father  De  Smet  to  St.  Louis  caused  great 
rejoicing  among  his  brethren,  and  on  hearing  from  him  of 
the  good  disposition  of  the  Flat  Heads  and  of  the  field  waiting 
ripe  for  laborers,  several  were  desirous  to  help  him  gather  in  the 
harvest  of  souls. 

Full  of  enthusiasm  over  the  results  of  his  journey,  he  was, 
doubtless,  eager  to  commence  active  preparations  for  his  return 
to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  But  having  laid  the  whole  subject 
before  his  Superiors,  his  ardor  was  chilled  and  his  heart  sank 
within  him,  when  told  that  the  funds  at  their  disposal  for 
missionary  purposes  were  not  half  enough  to  outfit  him  for  a 
new  expedition.  "The  thought  that  the  undertaking  would  have 
to  be  given  up ;  that  I  should  not  be  able  to  redeem  my  promise  to 
the  poor  Indians,  pierced  my  very  heart  and  filled  me  with  the 
deepest  sorrow,"  wrote  Father  De  Smet  under  date  of  May  I, 

1 841. 

Though  much  disappointed,  his  confidence  in  God  did  not 
abate.  The  matter  of  funds  being  left  practically  in  his  own 
hands  by  the  Superiors,  on  the  suggestion  of  one  of  his  friends 
he  made  an  appeal  to  some  of  the  clergy  and  to  others  kindly 
disposed  toward  the  Indians.  He  visited  New  Orleans,  Philadel- 
phia, and  other  places  for  that  purpose,  and  in  a  few  months  he 
succeeded  in  raising  the  necessary  amount.  This  secured  and 
the  outfit  made  up,  by  April  30,  1841,  he  was  able  to  set  out  from 
St.  Louis  on  his  way  back  to  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

He  had  for  companions  two  Fathers,  Gregory  Mengarini,  a 
Roman,  and  Nicholas  Point,  a  Vendean,  and  three  Lay  Brothers, 
Joseph  Specht,  an  Alsacian,  William  Claessens  and  Charles  Huet, 
both  Belgians.  They  were  all  members  of  the  Society  of  Jesus, 
and  their  divers  nationalities  would  seem  to  have  foreshadowed 


38         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

the  cosmopolitan  character  of  the  future  population  of  Montana. 

Our  missionary  band  left  Westport  on  May  10,  moving  toward 
the  Platte  River,  whose  banks  they  followed  for  over  two  months. 
An  Irishman,  named  Fitzgerald,  and  two  Canadians  were  in  the 
party  as  drivers.  John  Gray,  a  noted  mountaineer,  was  also 
with  them  in  the  capacity  of  guide  and  hunter.  Apart  from 
mounts  and  a  few  pack  animals,  their  traveling  outfit  consisted  of 
three  carts  and  one  wagon  drawn  by  ox-teams.  These  were 
the  first  wagons  and  oxen  brought  into  Montana. 

On  his  departure  from  them  the  preceding  year,  the  Flat 
Heads  had  promised  Father  De  Smet  that  an  escort  would  be 
sent  to  meet  him  at  a  certain  point,  at  the  foot  of  the  Wind  River 
Mountains  by  the  first  of  the  following  July.  Faithful  to  their 
promise,  ten  Flat-Head  lodges  were  on  the  spot  at  the  time  agreed 
upon;  but  Father  De  Smet,  with  his  companions,  did  not  reach 
the  place  until  the  middle  of  the  month.  The  Indians  waited  for 
him  from  ten  to  twelve  days,  that  is,  as  long  as  they  had  any 
provisions  with  them.  On  falling  short  of  these,  they  were 
compelled  to  go  to  the  mountains  some  distance  off,  to  hunt  for 
something  to  live  upon.  Being  made  aware  of  this  near  Fort 
Bridger,  Father  De  Smet  detailed  John  Gray  to  go  in  search  of 
the  hunters,  who  were  not  slow  to  respond  to  the  call. 

In  the  band  of  Flat  Heads  who  had  come  to  meet  the  mission- 
aries were  the  following:  Gabriel  Prudhome,  a  half-breed  and 
Father  De  Smet's  interpreter  the  year  before;  the  two  sons  of 
Old  Ignace,  Charles  and  Francis,  who,  as  we  related,  were 
baptized  in  St.  Louis  in  1835,  and  Young  Ignace,  the  companion 
and  guide  of  Father  De  Smet  on  his  first  trip.  Brave  Pilchimo, 
whose  brother  was  one  of  the  five  slain  at  Ash  Hollow  by  the 
Sioux,  and  old  Simon,  baptized  by  Father  De  Smet  the  previous 
year  and  the  oldest  man  of  the  tribe,  were  also  in  the  number. 
All  these  ran  ahead,  to  forestall  the  rest  in  greeting  the  Black 
Robes.  Old  Simon  rode  as  fast  as  any,  looking,  speaking  and 
acting  as  though  the  vivacity  of  his  youth  had  come  back  to  him ; 
while  Young  Ignace  traveled  four  whole  days  and  four  whole 
nights  without  a  bite  to  eat,  that  he  might  be  among  the  first  to 
welcome  the  missionaries.* 

*  The  writer  knew  all  these  people  personally,  except  old  Simon. 


OTHER  MISSIONARIES  39 

But  by  this  time  the  commissary  or  larder  of  our  travelers  had 
become  depleted,  and  their  mounts  were  so  jaded  by  the  journey, 
that  they  were  expected  at  any  moment  to  drop.  After  consulting 
over  the  situation,  it  seemed  advisable  to  proceed  toward  Fort 
Hall  where  new  supplies  could  be  secured.  Having  learned,  in 
the  meanwhile,  that  the  main  body  of  the  tribe  were  on  their  way 
to  the  buffalo  hunt  and  camped  along  the  banks  of  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Beaverhead,  Gabriel  Prudhome,  with  a  companion, 
was  sent  to  bring  them  the  news  of  the  arrival  of  the  Fathers 
and  to  secure  a  relay  of  horses  for  their  use. 

Father  De  Smet,  accompanied  by  young  Francis  now  led  the 
way  toward  Fort  Hall,  whither  he  arrived  on  the  15  of  August, 
the  Feast  of  the  Assumption  of  Our  Lady.  He  was  joined  there 
by  the  rest  of  the  party  on  the  next  day ;  Gabriel  Prudhome,  with 
fresh  horses  for  the  rest  of  the  journey,  came  in  a  few  days  later. 

Taking  leave  of  the  emigrants  in  whose  company  they  had 
traveled,  our  party  left  Fort  Hall  on  August  29.  Wending  their 
way  up  the  Snake  River,  they  crossed  the  continental  Divide  and 
directed  their  course  toward  the  headwaters  of  the  Beaverhead, 
the  main  body  of  the  Flat  Heads  being  then  camped  somewhere 
in  that  vicinity.  As  they  proceeded  in  that  direction,  they  were 
met  by  groups  of  Indians  eager  to  greet  them.  On  August  30 
they  reached  the  main  body  of  the  tribe,  and  the  reader  may  well 
imagine  the  joy  of  both  the  missionaries  and  the  Indians. 

After  a  few  days  of  rest  and  happy  intercourse,  during  which 
the  site  of  the  mission  was  also  agreed  upon,  the  missionaries, 
with  an  escort  of  several  Indian  lodges,  set  out  for  the  Bitter 
Root  Valley,  the  home  of  the  Fait  Heads,  where  the  mission  was 
to  be  established.  Ascending  the  slope  of  the  mountains  and 
recrossing  the  main  Divide,  they  descended  into  the  Deer  Lodge 
Valley,  which  they  followed  to  the  northwest  end,  that- is,  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Little  Blackfoot,  just  where  Garrison  is  today.  In 
crossing  the  larger  stream,  they  christened  it  "St.  Ignatius,"  after 
the  glorious  Founder  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  But  the  gold 
seeker,  taking  no  stock  in  Saints,  later  on  changed  the  original 
name  into  that  of  "Hell's  Gate  River." 

Father  De  Smet  and  companions  followed  the  river  down  to 
where  Missoula  now  stands,  and  thence,  turning  southward,  went 


40         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

up  the  Bitter  Root  Valley  some  twenty-eight  miles,  halting  on 
the  spot  that  lies  between  the  present  town-site  of  Stevensville 
and  old  Fort  Owen.  This  was  to  be  the  end  of  their  long 
wearisome  journey  and  the  location  as  well  of  the  Flat  Head 
Mission,  the  first  Catholic  Mission  in  Montana. 


Chapter  VIII. 

FOUNDING   ST.    MARY'S    MISSION.      SPIRITUAL   SEED   AND 
FIRST  LESSONS  IN   AGRICULTURE. 

THE  site  described  at  the  close  of  the  preceding  chapter  was 
reached  by  our  missionaries  on  the  24th  of  September,  the 
day  on  which  the  Church  honors  the  Blessed  Mother  of  God  under 
the  title  of  "Our  Lady  of  Mercy."  Though  seemingly  casual, 
the  coincidence  appeared  very  significant  and  full  of  meaning  to 
Father  De  Smet  and  his  companions,  who  regarded  it  as  most 
propitious  for  themselves  and  their  labors,  no  less  than  for  the 
forlorn  races  whom  they  had  come  to  rescue  from  the  darkness 
of  heathenism  and  the  shadow  of  death,  and  who  were,  indeed, 
in  more  than  one  way  objects  of  pity. 

Hewing  down  a  couple  of  trees,  they  soon  constructed  a  large 
Cross,  which  they  planted  on  the  spot  to  the  chant  of  the  Vexilla 
Regis.  That  roughly  hewn  Cross  was  the  symbol  of  all  their 
hopes ;  as  it  also  must  have  been  the  terror  of  the  infernal  hosts 
who,  for  ages  untold,  had  lorded  it  over  these  regions. 

They  named  the  premises  and  the  Mission  St.  Mary's,  after 
Our  Lady.  The  beautiful  crystal-like  stream  flowing  close  by,  the 
imposing  mountain,  just  opposite,  towering  up  to  the  clouds,  and 
the  whole  valley,  participated  in  the  appellation,  becoming  respec- 
tively St.  Mary's  River,  St.  Mary's  Peak,  St.  Mary's  Valley. 
What  charms  did  not  Our  Lady's  name  lend  at  once  to  things  and 
places.  Its  very  sound  seemed  to  dispel  forthwith  all  the  wild- 
ness,  the  gloom  and  barbarism  of  the  surroundings.  How 
greatly  has  Christianity  contributed  to  the  civilization  and  wel- 
fare, temporal  and  spiritual,  of  mankind,  by  simply  calling 
persons,  things,  places,  her  own  names  !* 

*  This  allusion  is  neither  far-fetched  nor  out  of  place.  It  is  prompted  by 
the  facts  before  us,  no  less  than  the  nature  of  things,  and  by  comparing  the 
names  bestowed  by  Religion  with  those  given  by  the  frontier  man,  the  gold- 
seeker,  the  creedless  adventurer ;  as  it  is  particularly  the  case  in  these  north- 
western regions  and  in  some  places  along  the  Pacific  Coast. 

Confining  ourselves  to  Montana,  and  not  to  mention  more  vulgar  names, 


42         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

The  formal  inauguration  of  the  new  mission  took  place  on  the 
first  Sunday  of  October,  which  is  devoted  by  the  Church  to  Our 
Lady  of  the  Holy  Rosary. 

Soon  the  building  operations  were  commenced,  the  need  of 
shelter  for  the  approaching  winter  and  of  a  chapel  for  Divine 
service  being  most  urgent.  With  such  energy  and  speed  did  the 
missionaries  work  that  together  with  a  couple  of  smaller  struc- 
tures, they  had  finished  a  church  or  chapel,  capable  of  containing 
a  fair  number  of  Indians ;  the  more  so,  because  these  people 
could  be  crowded  into  much  less  room  than  any  other  mortals. 

The  buildings,  of  course,  were  primitive  and  poor;  what  else 

take  for  instance  the  following :  Grasshopper,  Boulder,  Horseshoe,  Dry  Gulch, 
Crow's  Nest,  Deadhorse.  How  vulgar  and  how  trivial  are  these,  when 
compared  with  the  noble  and  elevating  appellations  supplied  by  Religion ! 

What  is  still  more  to  be  deplored  is  the  fact  that  original  names  given  to 
stream,  lake,  mountain,  by  the  pioneers  of  Christianity  are  not  unfrequently 
ignored  or  cast  aside  for  new,  frivolous  appellations  suggested  by  the  most 
trivial  incidents,  or  the  mere  whim  of  some  later  arrival.  In  countries  espe- 
cially that  are  new  and  undeveloped  is  not  like  this  tainting,  as  it  were,  at 
their  very  source  the  founts  of  accurate  history? 

As  to  the  beneficent  influence  of  Christian  names  in  the  cause  of  civilization, 
this  is  easily  understood  by  any  one  who  is  not  a  mere  lump  of  matter,  or  an 
agnostic.  We  might  here  enter  at  some  length  into  this  very  interesting 
subject,  but  to  do  so  would  lead  us  too  far  from  our  subject. 

We  simply  observe  that  the  names  which  Religion  bestows,  are  derived 
from  superior  beings,  living,  helpful,  deserving  of  special  honor  and  capable, 
besides,  of  requiting  any  homage  that  may  be  paid  to  them ;  that  is,  they  are 
taken  from  the  Deity  Himself,  from  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour  of 
men,  from  His  Blessed  Mother,  from  Angels  and  Saints.  Now,  it  is  manifest 
from  reason  and  our  own  experience,  that  to  have  our  names  bestowed  on 
some  worthy  object,  interests  us  in  that  object.  For,  after  all,  our  names  are 
something  specially  our  own  and,  so  to  say,  part  of  ourselves.  And  who  can 
be  without  concern  for  what  belongs  to  him? 

Whence  it  appears,  that  to  name  an  object  after  a  supernatural  being  in 
deference  to  his  superiority,  dignity,  merit,  helpfulness,  is  actually  to  do  the 
being  honor  and  to  interest  him  in  the  object  called  after  him.  The  tutelary 
divinities  of  ancient  mythology,  notwithstanding  the  grotesqueness  and  even 
repulsiveness  by  which  they  were  often  clothed,  were  perhaps  but  so  many 
distorted  expressions  of  this  objective  truth. 

But  with  regard  to  the  Saints,  they  may  be  considered  as  members  of  the 
human  family  who,  from  every  walk  of  life,  stand  out  as  so  many  models  of 
every  virtue,  and  by  their  example  invite  and  stimulate  their  fellow-beings 
to  imitation.  Therefore,  to  call  an  object  after  a  Saint's  name  is  to  set  before 
us  not  only  the  object,  but  the  person  also  whence  the  object's  name  has  been 
derived. 

From  these  reflections  we  may  gather  how  much  Christianity  contributes 
to  the  cause  of  man's  welfare  and  progress,  even  by  so  simple  a  means  as 
calling  persons,  things,  or  places  by  her  names. 


FOUNDING  ST.  MARY'S  MISSION  43 

could  they  be  under  the  circumstances?  They  were  constructed 
of  cotton  wood  logs,  as  this  wood  was  plentiful  along  the  river 
bank.  Two  of  the  structures  were  roofed  with  split  shingles  or 
shakes,  made  fast  with  pegs  or  wooden  nails,  another,  with  poles, 
covered  with  earth,  the  seams  or  chinks  between  the  logs,  both 
within  and  without,  being  filled  with  clay.  The  floor  was  then 
made  of  rough  planks,  the  material  for  the  purpose  being  whip- 
sawed  or  thinned  down  with  the  axe.  The  chapel  measured  25 
by  33  feet  and  had  two  galleries,  one  on  each  side,  8  feet  by  30 ; 
thus  all  the  inside  space  was  utilized.  A  year  or  so  after,  this 
structure  was  replaced  by  another  whose  dimensions  were  some- 
what larger,  that  is,  30  by  60  feet.  We  owe  these  details  to 
Brother  Wm.  Claessens,  who  was  the  foreman  builder.  The  joy 
of  our  good  Indians  at  having  on  their  soil  and  in  their  midst  a 
Dwelling  of  the  Great  Spirit  and  the  House  of  Prayer  was  great. 
We  heard  the  following  incident  from  the  lips  of  saintly  Father 
Giorda  and  from  Brother  Claessens,  one  of  the  founders  of  St. 
Mary's,  and  it  is  well  worth  recording. 

The  chapel  had  just  been  finished,  when  one  of  the  Indians 
exclaimed:  "Why!  It  is  the  place  where  little  Mary  said  the 
House  of  Prayer  would  be  built."  It  seems  that  while  some 
lodges  were  camped  thereabout,  several  years  before,  a  girl,  about 
thirteen,  named  Mary,  had  fallen  sick  and  died  on  the  very  spot 
now  covered  by  the  chapel.  She  had  been  baptized  in  her  sickness 
by  one  of  the  Iroquois  at  her  own  request,  and  whilst  thanking 
God  for  the  grace  of  baptism,  suddenly  cried  out :  'There  is  no 
happiness  on  earth.  Happiness  is  found  only  above."  Her  weak, 
trembling  hands  raised,  and  her  eyes  turned  upward,  giving 
expression  to  her  words,  she  continued,  "I  see  the  heavens  open 
and  God's  Mother  calls  me  up  there."  Then  addressing  those 
round  her,  she  added :  "Listen  to  the  Black  Robes  when  they 
come :  they  have  the  true  prayer ;  do  all  they  tell  you.  They  are 
coming  and  will  build  the  House  of  Prayer  where  I  am  dying." 

The  circumstances  had  been  almost!  forgotten,  but  the  new 
chapel  now  brought  them  back  to  their  minds. 

The  incident,  as  related  to  the  Fathers  by  the  Indians  seemed 
worth  reproducing  on  canvas,  and  an  oil  painting,  39  inches  by 
49,  representing  it,  became  a  conspicuous  object  at  the  mission. 
When,  where  and  by  whom  the  work  was  done,  the  writer  has 


44         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

not  been  able  to  ascertain.  The  picture  can  be  seen  today  in  the 
Fathers'  residence  at  Missoula,  where  it  was  transferred  when 
the  Flat  Heads  were  removed  from  the  Bitter  Root  Valley. 

The  news  that  the  true  Black  Robes  had  come  into  the  land  of 
the  Selish  or  Flat  Heads  soon  spread  among  the  tribes  near  and 
far,  and  before  the  end  of  October,  as  we  are  told  by  Father  De 
Smet,  the  missionaries  could  record  the  fact  that,  one  single  day 
had  brought  to  their  instructions  the  representatives  of  twenty- 
four  different  tribes. 

According  to  promise,  the  Flat  Heads  were  all  back  from  the 
hunt  by  the  latter  part  of  November,  and  one-third  of  the  tribe 
were  regenerated  in  the  waters  of  holy  baptism  on  the  third  day 
of  December,  the  feast  of  St.  Francis  Xavier.  Others  were 
baptized  on  Christmas  Day,  there  being  among  the  latter  115 
Flat  Heads  led  by  their  chiefs,  30  Nez  Perces  and  their  chief,  and 
one  Blackfoot  chief,  with  all  his  family.  That  first  Christmas, 
says  Father  De  Smet,  was  celebrated  with  all  the  solemnity 
possible  in  the  wilderness: 

I  began  my  first  Mass  at  seven  in  the  morning;  at  five  in  the 
afternoon  I  was  still  in  the  chapel.  The  heart  may  feel,  but  the  lips 
cannot  express  the  emotions  which  I  then  experienced.  From  six 
hundred  to  seven  hundred  newly-made  Christians  with  bands  of 
little  children  baptized  within  the  last  year,  offering  to  their  Creator 
their  regenerated  hearts,  protesting  that  they  would  persevere  in  the 
holy  service  of  God  until  death,  was  certainly  an  offering  most 
acceptable  to  God,  and  one  which,  we  trust,  will  bring  down  the  dews 
of  Heaven  upon  the  Flat  Head  nation  and  neighboring  tribes. 

From  all  accounts,  the  faith,  piety  and  fervor  of  the  first 
converts  to  Christianity  seemed,  indeed,  to  have  reappeared 
among  these  children  of  the  forest.  We  may  be  pardoned,  if  we 
here  quote  from  the  official  report  of  Lieut.  John  Mullan,  U.S.A., 
who,  thirteen  years  later,  in  company  with  the  Hon.  Isaac  Stevens, 
was  detailed  by  the  U.  S.  Government  to  explore  what  is  now 
the  State  of  Montana,  and  who  spent  some  time  in  the  Bitter 
Root  Valley.    His  account  is  much  to  the  point. 

When  I  arrived  at  the  camp  with  my  guide  [says  Lieut.  Mullan], 
three  or  four  men  came  to  meet  me  and  we  were  invited  to  enter  the 
lodge  of  the  great  chief.     With  much  eagerness  they  took  care  of 


/  :tr 


'■J. 


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.T**^     i^rmr 


«ii 


The  Original  St.  Mary's  Mission  Among  the  Flat  Heads 


St.  Mary's  Mission  and  Church  Among  the  Flat  Heads 


Copyright 
McKay,  Missoula 


FOUNDING  ST.  MARY'S  MISSION  45 

our  horses  and  unsaddled  them  and  led  them  to  drink.  As  soon  as 
all  the  camp  had  been  informed  of  the  arrival  of  the  white  man 
among  them,  the  principal  men  of  the  tribe  collected  at  the  lodge  of 
the  chief.  All  being  assembled,  at  a  signal  given  by  the  chief,  they 
prayed  aloud.  I  was  struck  with  astonishment,  for  I  had  not  the 
least  expectation  of  such  conduct  on  their  part.  The  whole  assembly 
knelt  in  the  most  solemn  manner  and  with  the  greatest  reverence 
adored  the  Lord.  I  asked  myself:  "Am  I  among  Indians?  Am  I 
among  people  whom  all  the  world  calls  savages  ?"  I  could  scarcely 
believe  my  eyes.  The  thought  that  these  men  were  penetrated  with 
religious  sentiment  so  profound  and  beautiful  overwhelmed  me  with 
amazement. 

But  the  missionaries  had  come  to  teach  the  Indians  not  to  pray 
only,  but  also  to  work,  toil  being  next  to  godliness,  and,  after 
piety,  the  best  aid  to  good  living  for  fallen  man.  Hence  after 
the  first  lessons  in  manual  labor  given  to  the  Indians  by  the 
building  of  the  chapel  and  winter  quarters,  others  were  given 
them  in  cutting  and  splitting  rails  and  fencing  in  a  piece  of  land, 
preparatory  to  putting  it  under  cultivation  with  the  opening  of 
spring.  Whilst  this  kind  of  missionary  work  greatly  surprised 
the  Indians,  there  was  no  seed  at  hand  to  sow  in  the  new  field, 
and  the  nearest  place  where  it  could  be  had  was  Fort  Colville, 
over  three  hundred  miles  away.  This  circumstance  furnished 
Father  De  Smet  with  the  opportunity  of  doing  two  things  at  the 
same  time,  of  going  after  the  seed  and  other  supplies  needed  at 
St.  Mary's,  and  dispensing  seed  spiritual,  the  truths  of  Christi- 
anity, to  several  Indian  tribes  along  his  course  to  Fort  Colville. 

Accompanied  by  his  interpreter  and  ten  Flat  Heads,  he  set 
out  from  St.  Mary's  on  October  24,  visiting  and  instructing  as 
he  went  along  the  Kalispels,  Pend  d'Oreilles  and  Coeur  d'Alenes. 
To  improve  his  time,  the  method  he  adopted  in  teaching  Christian 
doctrine  to  the  Indians  was  the  following: 

With  the  help  of  his  interpreter,  he  translated  into  Indian  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  the  Hail  Mary,  the  Ten  Commandments,  with  the 
acts  of  Faith,  Hope,  Charity,  and  Contrition.  He  then  made  his 
Indian  pupils  stand  in  a  circle,  insisting  that  they  should  always 
take  the  same  places.  When  they  were  thus  arranged,  he  would 
teach  to  one  the  first  Commandment,  the  second  to  another,  and 
so  on.  As  to  prayers,  he  made  each  one  learn  by  memory  a 
different  sentence  of  the  same  prayer,  so  that  by  every  one  recit- 


46         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

ing  what  he  had  memorized,  the  whole  would  be  rendered.  This 
took  him  about  three  days,  and  all,  young  and  old,  soon  knew  the 
Commandments  and  the  prayers  by  heart. 

The  advent  of  the  Black  Robes  in  the  land  of  the  Selish  or  Flat 
Heads  had  been  spoken  of  to  them  and  they  were  now  eager  to 
be  instructed  and  have  missionaries  remain  among  them.  He 
baptized  during  the  trip  190  people,  twenty-six  of  them  adults. 
Some  of  the  latter  were  decrepit  with  extreme  old  age,  and  seemed 
to  have  been  kept  alive  providentially,  like  old  St.  Simeon,  that 
they,  too,  like  him,  "might  see  their  salvation"  before  dying. 
Instances  are  cited  by  Father  De  Smet  which  are,  indeed,  very 
touching.  But  we  must  pass  them  over  so  as  not  to  make  our 
narrative  too  lengthy. 

The  Father  returned  to  St.  Mary's  on  December  8,  the  Feast 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  having  spent  just  forty-two  days 
in  his  journey.* 

*  Not  counting  the  Missoula  or  Hell's  Gate  River  which  he  had  named 
already  the  St.  Ignatius,  nor  the  Bitter  Root  River,  which  he  had  called  the 
St.  Mary's,  Father  De  Smet,  in  describing  his  trip  to  Colville,  speaks  of  crossing 
and  naming  three  rivers  in  his  course  between  his  starting-point — St.  Mary's 
Mission — and  the  Flat  Head  River. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  first  of  these  rivers  was  the  Lolo,  since  it 
is  described  as  flowing  into  the  St.  Mary's — the  Bitter  Root  River — between 
the  Mission  and  the  St.  Ignatius — the  Missoula  River.  He  called  this  stream 
after  St.  Francis  Borgia. 

The  other  two  rivers  are  described  as  coming  together  and  forming  one 
stream  which  empties  into  the  Flat  Head  River  after  running  through  the 
valley  lying  beyond  Camas  Prairie.  The  Camas  Prairie  here  mentioned  is 
the  5"  shaped  prairie  lying  on  the  summit  of  the  Coria  can  Defile,  better  known 
as  O'Keefe's  Canyon,  and  running  north  from  where  Evaro  now  stands.  The 
valley  beyond  it  on  this  side  of  the  Flat  Head  River,  is  evidently  the  Jocko 
Valley  through  which  lay  Father  De  Smet's  course  to  Fort  Colville.  Conse- 
quently the  river  crossed  and  named  by  Father  De  Smet  must  be  the  Jocko. 
But  apart  from  a  couple  of  rivulets  hardly  worth  noticing,  the  Jocko  receives 
no  tributaries  in  its  course  through  the  valley,  except  Finley  Creek,  which 
enters  it  from  the  south,  just  a  little  below  Arlee.  But  even  this  could  not 
be  dignified  with  the  name  of  river,  unless  perhaps  poetically.  Still,  there  being 
no  other  stream  of  which  Father  De  Smet  could  speak,  we  are  compelled  to 
conclude  that  Finley  Creek  is  what  he  means  as  the  other  of  the  two  rivers 
in  question. 

The  two  streams  were  named  by  him,  one,  the  St.  Aloysius,  and  the  other, 
the  St.  Stanislaus.  Supposing  that  the  names  were  given  in  the  order  of 
discovery,  as  most  likely  was  the  case,  Finley  Creek,  being  the  first  stream 
in  the  Father's  course,  would  be  the  St.  Aloysius,  while  the  Jocko,  reached 
shortly  after,  would  have  been  called  the  St.  Stanislaus. 


FOUNDING  ST.  MARY'S  MISSION  47 

The  seed  brought  from  Fort  Colville  consisted  of  potatoes, 
wheat,  and  oats,  a  few  bushels  of  each,  and  the  seeding  season 
having  arrived,  the  Indians  watched  with  great  curiosity  the 
plowing,  sowing  and  planting.  To  them  it  was  all  itcnemus,  to 
no  purpose  or  foolish.  Tearing  up  the  bosom  of  the  earth, 
spoiling  and  destroying  the  grass  of  their  ponies,  just  to  bury  in 
the  ground  to  rot  what  seemed  good  to  eat,  appeared  to  them 
most  strange.  When  told  that  what  had  been  planted,  after 
rotting  under  the  soil,  would  in  due  time  reappear  multiplied, 
they  were  utterly  incredulous,  and  would  laugh  the  teller  almost 
to  scorn.  Brother  Claessens,  still  living,  who  looked  after  the 
field,  often  relates  that  Indians  could  be  seen  day  after  day 
perched  on  the  fence  for  hours  waiting  for  the  seed  to  come  to 
life  again. 

It  was  not  long,  however,  before  their  incredulity  began  to 
give  way  under  what  they  saw  with  their  own  eyes,  the  green 
blades  and  tender  stalks  shooting  forth  from  the  ground.  The 
sight  delighted  them  and  from  that  moment  to  the  ripening  of 
the  crop  they  seemed  to  grow  actually  feverish  with  expectancy. 
Happily,  the  yield  proved  even  larger  than  the  missionaries  had 
hoped  for  and  all  in  the  camp  were  able  to  share  of  its  abundance. 

This  was  the  first  farming  done  in  Montana,  and  while  the 
Indians  now  saw  for  the  first  time  the  advantage  of  tilling  the 
soil  and  sowing  for  crops,  that  first  lesson  in  husbandry  proved 
also  the  best  means  of  illustrating  a  fundamental  mystery  of 
Christianity,  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  The  great  Apostle 
makes  use  of  the  same  natural  fact,  the  reproduction  of  the  seed 
buried  and  rotting  in  the  ground,  to  teach  all  men  the  same 
doctrine. 

The  Indians  became  very  fond  of  potatoes,  green  corn,  peas, 
beans,  turnips,  and  carrots.  But  they  had  no  use  for  greens,  and 
especially)  disliked  onions.  The  latter  made  their  eyes  water, 
while  they  thought  the  former  good  only  for  horses.  One 
morning  Brother  Joseph,  looking  over  his  little  garden,  missed 
half  a  row  of  carrots  and  some  onions.  The  next  morning, 
while  a  few  more  carrots  had  disappeared,  the  missing  onions,  to 
his  surprise,  had  been  put  back,  and  pretty  much  in  the  same  row. 


Chapter  IX. 

INDIAN    MARRIAGES.       FATHER   DE  SMET   JOURNEYS   TO   ST.    PAUL, 

OREGON.      THE   MISSIONARY  AND  THE   BUFFALO   CHASE. 

FATHER  DE  SMET  GOES  TO  EUROPE  FOR  ASSISTANTS. 

AMONG  the  adults  baptized  on  that  first  Christmas  celebrated 
-in  our  mountains  were  twenty-four  couples,  whose  marriages 
were  likewise  to  take  place  on  the  same  festival.  But  as  each 
part  of  the  liturgy  had  to  be  explained  to  the  Indians,  the  baptisms 
occupied  the  whole  time,  so  that  the  marriages  had  to  be  deferred 
to  the  next  day.  "The  contracting  of  those  twenty-four  mar- 
riages," says  Father  De  Smet,  "presented  that  mixture  of  sim- 
plicity, of  respectful  affection  and  profound  joy  which  is  a  sure 
indication  of  a  good  conscience." 

Such  a  "wedding  bee,"  if  it  had  taken  place  in  a  civilized 
community,  would  certainly  have  aroused  a  great  deal  of  discus- 
sion, but  should  surprise  no  one  in  the  present  case.  The  mar- 
riage of  unbaptized  persons,  whenever  properly  contracted,  is 
valid  and  binding  as  a  natural  contract,  and  as  such  it  has  always 
been  looked  upon  by  the  Church.  But  the  missionaries  really 
found  no  such  marriage  among  these  people,  even  though 
polygamy  was  an  exception.  The  nature  of  the  marriage  con- 
tract requires  for  its  validity  that  the  parties  to  it  intend  to  bind 
themselves  to  each  other  for  life,  an  intention  so  essential  that 
without  it  there  can  be  no  marriage.  Now,  the  Fathers  found 
that  amongst  the  very  best  of  the  Indians  the  belief  prevailed 
that  even  after  marriage  they  were  still  free,  and  justified  in 
sending  away  their  first  wife  and  marrying  another,  at  pleasure. 
This  made  it  clear  that  the  essential  condition  to  the  validity  of 
the  matrimonial  contract  was  wanting  in  their  marriages,  and 
that,  consequently,  they  were  all  null  and  void.  Hence  the  neces- 
sity of  setting  the  Indians  right  on  so  important  a  matter,  and  of 
revalidating  and  blessing  the  marriages  of  young  and  old  alike. 


Buffaloes  on  Flat  Head  Reservation 


Indian  Family,  Flat  Head  Reservation 


FATHER  DE  SMET  GOES  TO  EUROPE  49 

It  can  be  easily  imagined  how  all  this  must  have  fairly  bristled 
with  difficulties.  For  the  missionaries  had  to  look  into  each 
individual  case,  in  order  to  remove,  by  dispensation  and  other- 
wise, all  impediments,  whether  canonical  or  not,  that  might  stand 
in  the  way  to  a  peaceful  and  valid  marriage. 

But  the  greatest  difficulties,  beyond  doubt,  were  on  the  part  of 
the  Indians,  of  those  especially  who  had  left  a  first  wife,  if  not  a 
second  and  third,  to  marry  another  and  who  at  the  bidding  of 
the  ministers  of  God  would  have  to  give  up  the  latter,  or  last, 
and  return  to  the  first.  What  heartaches!  God's  grace,  how- 
ever, abounded  among  these  earnest  children  of  the  wilderness, 
and  so  wondrously  that  even  heroic  sacrifices  they  would  make 
lightly  and  with  a  cheerful  heart.  One  evening  a  poor  fellow, 
as  we  are  told  by  Father  De  Smet,  came  to  seek  the  missionaries 
in  their  own  quarters,  which  just  then  were  filled  with  Indians, 
and  unabashed  asked  what  should  be  done  in  his  circumstances. 
"On  the  very  instant,"  writes  Father  De  Smet,  "he  acted  accord- 
ing to  the  instructions  given  him.  He  dismissed  his  young  wife, 
giving  her  what  he  would  have  wished  another  to  give  his  own 
sister  if  in  the  same  situation,  and  was  reunited  to  his  first  wife 
whom  he  had  forsaken."  "This  is  but  one  of  many  like  cases," 
adds  Father  De  Smet. 

Once  more  we  must  leave  St.  Mary's  awhile,  and  follow 
Father  De  Smet  on  another  journey.  More  supplies  than  he 
could  obtain  at  Fort  Colville  were  needed  at  the  new  mission, 
and  hence  the  spring  of  1842  had  scarcely  opened,  when  he  set 
out  again,  his  objective  being  Fort  Vancouver  on  the  banks  of 
the  Willamette,  and  the  principal  trading  post  of  the  Hudson 
Bay  Company  in  the  Northwest. 

The  distance  he  had  to  travel  was  close  to  800  miles,  and  this 
he  covered  partly  on  horseback  and  partly  by  boat  or  canoe.  On 
his  way  down  the  Columbia,  his  Guardian  Angel,  beyond  doubt, 
saved  him  from  a  watery  grave.  When  nearing  the  Okanagan 
Dalles  he  sensed  danger  ahead,  and  requested  the  boatmen  to  put 
him  ashore.  A  little  while  after,  the  small  craft  engulfed  in  a 
whirlpool,  and,  with  the  exception  of  his  own  interpreter  and 
another  man  who  barely  escaped  with  their  lives,  all  the  others 
were  drowned.  Hence,  likely,  as  the  writer  surmises,  the  name 
"Priest  Rapids,"  borne  by  the  Columbia  in  that  vicinity. 


So         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

Another  object  of  Father  De  Smet's  journey  to  Oregon  was 
to  meet  and  confer  with  the  Very  Rev.  F.  N.  Blanchet,  V.  G., 
and  his  companion,  the  Rev.  Modest  Demers,  on  matters  apper- 
taining to  the  general  welfare  of  the  Indians.  The  three  first 
missionaries  of  the  Northwest  had  thus  the  pleasure  of  a 
fraternal  meeting  at  St.  Paul,  on  the  Willamette.  "A  scene  here 
ensued  so  affecting  and  so  edifying,"  writes  Archbishop  Seghers 
in  his  Pastoral  Letter,  "that  drew  tears  from  the  eyes  of  the 
only  witness,  Father  Demers,  from  whose  lips  we  received  the 
moving-  narrative.  No  sooner  had  Father  De  Smet  descried  the 
Vicar  General  than  he  ran  to  prostrate  himself  at  his  feet, 
imploring  his  blessing ;  and  no  sooner  had  the  Very  Rev.  Blanchet 
caught  sight  of  the  valiant  missionary  than  he  also  fell  on  his 
knees,  imploring  the  blessing  of  the  saintly  Jesuit.  Admirable 
struggle  where  the  last  place,  not  the  first,  was  the  object  of  the 
contestants."  The  three  missionaries  spent  a  few  days  in  happy 
intercourse,  the  charms  of  which  could  only  be  known  to  their 
own  hearts  and  to  their  Angel  Guardians. 

Having  consulted  together  on  the  means  of  best  promoting 
the  interests  of  Catholicity  in  these  regions,  they  resolved  to 
combine  their  efforts  for  the  conversion  of  the  natives;  and  in 
furtherance  of  this  object  it  was  agreed  that  Father  De  Smet 
would  soon  go  to  Europe  and  return  with  laborers,  Fathers, 
Brothers,  and  Sisters,  for  this  large  and  promising  portion  of 
the  Lord's  vineyard. 

With  this  understanding,  Father  De  Smet  now  left  St.  Paul 
to  return  to  the  mountains,  being  accompanied  by  the  Rev.  M. 
Demers  as  far  as  Walla  Walla,  where  the  two  missionaries 
parted.  He  revisited  the  Cceur  d'Alenes,  who  renewed  their 
earnest  request  for  Black  Robes  to  come  and  stay  among  them. 
He  not  only  promised  those  good  people  that  their  desires  would 
be  soon  fulfilled,  but  directed  them  to  send  some  of  their  men  to 
the  Flat  Head  Mission  in  the  fall,  where  a  Father  would  then  be 
ready  to  come  and  stay  in  their  midst.  Continuing  his  journey, 
he  crossed  the  Bitter  Root  Mountains  on  the  Indian  trail,  which 
has  since  become  a  part  of  the  Mullan  Road,  and  safely  arrived 
at  St.  Mary's.  He  made  arrangements  with  Father  Mengarini 
for  the  opening  of  a  mission  among  the  Cceur  d'Alenes,  and 


FATHER  DE  SMET  GOES  TO  EUROPE  51 

destined  to  that  new  field  Father  Point,  with  Brother  Huet  as 
his  companion. 

Eager  to  have  the  Black  Robes  among  them,  the  Cceur  d'Alenes 
sent  their  men  after  the  Father  much  sooner  than  they  had  been 
directed,  and  had  to  wait  a  long  time  at  St.  Mary's  for  the  return 
of  Father  Point,  who  was  out  with  the  Flat  Heads  on  a  buffalo 
hunt. 

It  may  be  well,  in  this  connection,  to  state  that  the  chase  of  the 
buffalo  usually  took  place  three  times  a  year.  The  first,  or  big 
hunt,  occurred  from  the  middle  of  August  to  the  end  of  Novem- 
ber. The  spring  hunt  or  little  chase  lasted  from  the  middle  of 
April  to  the  end  of  May ;  and  in  this  only  bulls  were  sought,  the 
cows  at  this  season  being  lean  and  extremely  poor.  There  was 
also  the  winter  chase,  which  many  Indians  attended  in  order  to 
secure  buffalo  robes  of  prime  quality,  which  could  be  had  only  in 
winter,  the  animal's  fur  being  then  at  its  best.  These  hunts 
were  always  events  of  the  greatest  importance  for  the  Indian; 
they  absorbed  his  whole  being,  and  were  participated  in  by  every 
member  of  the  tribe  who  was  able  to  go.  We  must  refer  the 
reader  to  Father  De  Smet*  and  others  for  the  description  of  one 
of  these  most  interesting  and  exciting  scenes  of  early  Indian  life. 
It  suffices  to  say  here  only  a  word  concerning  the  plan  of 
accompanying  the  Indians  on  the  hunting  excursions,  as  adopted 
at  first  by  the  missionaries. 

The  principal  reasons  in  favor  of  this  course  were:  first,  not 
to  leave  the  Indians  so  long  a  time  without  instruction  and  the 
comforts  of  religion;  secondly,  to  lend  aid  and  assistance  to  the 
sick  and  the  dying;  thirdly,  that  the  presence  and  influence  of 
the  priest  might  restrain  the  Indians  from  the  disorders  and 
excesses  of  which  these  hunting  excursions  were  always  the 
cause  or  the  occasion :  all  good  and  solid  reasons,  beyond  doubt. 

However,  his  presence  on  such  occasions  could  not  but  place 
the  missionary  in  a  very  delicate  position;  since  the  buffalo 
plains  were  not  merely  common  hunting  grounds  for  the  Indians ; 
they  were  also  their  ordinary  battle  fields.  It  would  commit  him 
before  hostile  tribes,  because  from  the  fact  of  his  being  in  the 
camp  of  the  enemy  he  would,  naturally,  be  looked  upon  as  in 
league  with  them,  and  as  an  enemy  himself.    Was  not  this  tanta- 

*  Western  Missions  and  Western  Missionaries. 


52         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

mount  to  barring  the  way  to  missionary  work,  for  the  time 
being,  as  well  as  for  the  future,  among  the  hostile  Indians  and 
their  friends? 

Was  there  not  also  danger  of  his  incurring  the  ill-will  even  of 
those  whom  he  accompanied?  This  might  prove  the  case 
especially  when  there  was  question  of  prisoners  captured  in  war. 
As  a  matter  of  course,  the  Father's  counsels  would  be  for  lenity 
toward  the  conquered.  But  no  Indian  ever  felt  mercy  for  an 
enemy  who  fell  into  his  hands.  Hence  the  peaceful  character 
of  his  mission  was  apt  to  compromise  the  Father,  even  with  those 
he  went  with.  Thus,  his  presence  in  such  excursions,  instead  of 
making  for  good,  tended  to  defeat  the  very  object  sought  after, 
namely,  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  red  men.  A  few  facts  will 
throw  light  on  the  subject. 

The  first  time  Father  Point  accompanied  the  Indians  to  the 
hunt,  during  the  winter  of  1841-42,  on  which  occasion  he  came 
near  freezing  to  death,  the  party  he  went  with  consisting  of  sixty 
warriors,  encountered  on  the  way  a  small  band  of  Blackfeet, 
numbering  seventeen,  whom  they  soon  surrounded,  leaving 
them  no  chance  whatever  of  escape.  In  this  plight,  the  poor 
fellows  appealed  to  the  Black  Robe  for  mercy,  and  he,  in  turn, 
insisted  with  the  Flat  Heads  to  spare  them.  They  did  so,  but 
most  reluctantly,  and  became  highly  incensed  against  the  Father 
for  his  meddling  in  the  matter. 

On  another  occasion  it  was  Father  Mengarini  who  accom- 
panied the  Indians.  Word  had  been  brought  to  St.  Mary's  by 
one  Mongravier  from  Fort  Benton  that  a  large  body  of  Black- 
feet  warriors,  some  six  hundred  strong,  were  ambushed  along 
the  path  through  which  lay  the  course  of  the  Flat  Heads  to  the 
buffalo  plains.  The  question  with  the  latter  just  at  this  time 
was,  either  to  fight  their  way  to  the  buffalo,  or  die  of  starvation, 
as  they  had  nothing  left  to  eat,  and  their  children  were  crying 
for  food.  Father  Mengarini  went  along  for  the  very  purpose  of 
preventing,  if  possible,  any  sliedding  of  blood.  Two  Flat  Heads 
preceded  the  main  body,  as  scouts  and  vanguard.  On  approach- 
ing the  spot  where  the  Blackfeet  had  been  reported  in  ambush, 
two  of  these  came  forward  to  parley,  one  of  them  being  the 
Blackfoot  chief,  and  the  other  one  Choquet,  a  French  Creole. 
The  chief  made  friendly  signs,  and  invited  the  two  Flat  Heads 


FATHER  DE  SMET  GOES  TO  EUROPE  53 

to  his  camp,  to  smoke  the  calumet  of  peace.  The  answer  given 
him  was  a  bullet  that  instantly  struck  him  dead.  A  general 
battle  now  ensued. 

The  war  chief  of  the  Flat  Heads  and  Pend  d'Oreilles,  seeking 
to  draw  the  enemy  from  the  cover  of  the  woods  out  into  the 
open,  directed  a  feigned  retreat.  Then  they  were  ordered  to 
turn  suddenly  and  charge  their  pursuers,  which  they  did  with 
remarkable  bravery.  Twenty-five  Blackfeet  fell  in  the  engage- 
ment; while  on  the  side  of  the  Flat  Heads  and  their  allies  but 
three  were  killed,  one  Snake,  married  to  a  Flat  Head  woman, 
and  two  Pend  d'Oreilles. 

The  fight  over,  the  Flat  Head  warriors  returned  to  their  camp 
in  a  canyon  some  distance  off,  where  the  women  as  well  as  all 
their  traps  had  been  left,  and  where  Father  Mengarini  had  been 
also  ordered  to  remain  during  the  battle.  The  Creole  mentioned 
above,  a  day  or  so  after,  came  to  see  the  Father,  and  on  the  part 
of  the  Blackfeet  nation  invited  him  to  go  and  visit  them  in  their 
camp,  as  they  were  all  eager  to  hear  his  word.  The  Father  was 
most  willing  to  go,  but  the  Flat  Heads  would  not  have  it.  They 
told  him  that  if  he  went,  they  too  should  go,  and  should  fight 
so  long  as  one  of  them  remained  alive.  They  were,  besides, 
much  angered  against  him,  because  he  hindered  them  from 
renewing  the  fight,  and  they  threatened  to  abandon  him. 

These  and  other  facts  which  we  pass  over,  show  clearly 
enough  that  the  presence  of  the  missionary  in  these  hunts  was 
anything  but  advisable.  The  more  so,  that  during  such  hunt- 
ing excursions  the  Indians  were  a  prey  to  the  wildest  excitement, 
which  left  little  time  for  religious  instruction.  This  the  Fathers 
soon  found  by  their  own  experience,  and  refused  to  follow  the 
Indians  to  the  chase  any  longer. 

While  Father  Point  was  still  with  the  Indians  on  the  buffalo 
plains,  Father  De  Smet,  July  29,  set  out  from  St.  Mary's  for 
the  States,  arriving  at  St.  Louis  in  the  latter  part  of  October. 
To  his  delight  he  found  here  some  new  laborers  ready  for  the 
Indian  Missions  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  two  Fathers,  Peter 
De  Vos  and  Adrian  Hoecken,  and  John  B.  McGean,  a  lay 
brother.  He  started  them  on  their  journey  without  delay, 
escorting  them  himself  a  considerable  distance,  and  after  seeing 


54         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

them   fairly  on  the  road  in  the  company   of   Lord   Stuart  he 
retraced  his  steps  to  St.  Louis. 

New  recruits  in  the  meanwhile  had  arrived  from  Europe, 
three  Fathers,  Joseph  Joset,  Peter  Zerbinatti,  and  Tiberius 
Soderini,  and  a  lay  brother,  Vincent  Magri,  whose  voyage  across 
the  Atlantic  had  taken  fifty-two  days.  Because  of  this,  they 
reached  St.  Louis  too  late  to  join  the  previous  expedition. 
Unable  to  proceed  further,  they  passed  the  winter  in  the  States, 
and  resumed  their  journey  toward  the  Rockies  the  following 
spring.  At  Fort  Hall  Father  Soderini  parted  with  his  confreres 
and  shortly  after  left  the  Society,  being  dismissed  by  Father 
De  Smet.  The  rest  of  the  band  pursued  their  course  and  arrived 
at  St.  Mary's  in  the  summer  of  1843,  a  few  months  after  the 
party  led  by  Father  De  Vos,  upon  whom  now  rested  the  care  of 
the  Indian  Missions,  as  Vice-Superior,  during  the  absence  of 
Father  De  Smet. 

In  the  meantime  the  Mission  among  the  Cceur  d'Alenes  had 
been  started  by  Father  Point  and  Brother  Huet,  who,  according 
to  Father  De  Smet's  instructions,  had  left  the  Flat  Head  Mis- 
sion for  their  new  field  the  preceding  autumn.  Thus,  St.  Mary's, 
the  cradle  of  religion  in  what  is  now  the  State  of  Montana,  had 
also  become  the  parent  stock  of  Christianity  in  that  part  of  the 
Northwest  known  today  as  the  State  of  Idaho. 

It  was  the  first  Friday  in  November  when  Father  Point  and 
his  companion  arrived  among  the  Cceur  d'Alenes,  and  as  the  first 
Friday  of  every  month  is  especially  devoted  to  the  honor  of  the 
most  Sacred  Heart  of  our  Divine  Redeemer,  the  coincidence  led 
to  naming  the  Mission  after  the  Sacred  Heart.  From  all  reports, 
the  Cceur  d'Alenes  are  today  the  best  and  most  industrious 
Indians  in  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

The  Kalispels  were  not  forgotten,  and  with  the  arrival  of 
new  laborers  it  became  practicable  for  St.  Mary's  to  send  them 
help.  Father  A.  Hoecken,  after  spending  some  months  with 
Father  Point  among  the  Cceur  d'Alenes,  proceeded,  as  directed 
by  Father  De  Smet,  to  open  the  Mission  among  the  Kalispels, 
along  the  shores  of  Pend  d'Oreille  Lake.  He  arrived  among 
them  in  the  summer  of  1844,  and  established  the  new  Mission 
on  the  banks  of  Clark's  Fork  of  the  Columbia,  the  river  being 
also  known  in  its  upper  course  as  the  Flat  Head,  and  becoming 


FATHER  DE  SMET  GOES  TO  EUROPE  55 

the  Pend  d'Oreille  lower  down  toward  the  lake  of  the  same 
name.  The  site  lay  some  sixty  miles  below  the  present  Sand 
Point  and  was  named  after  St.  Ignatius. 

The  location,  however,  proved  unsatisfactory,  as  is  mentioned 
elsewhere,  and  was  abandoned  shortly  after  for  a  more  favor- 
able site  in  northwestern  Montana,  namely,  the  St.  Ignatius  of 
today,  of  which  we  shall  have  to  speak  at  considerable  length 
in  the  course  of  our  narrative. 

Father  De  Smet  in  the  meanwhile  had  arrived  in  Europe, 
where  a  great  many  had  already  a  reading  acquaintance  with 
him  and  his  work  among  the  Indians  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
and  where  he  received  the  heartiest  greetings  from  all  classes  of 
people.  When  presented  to  Gregory  XVI  by  the  Father  General 
of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  His  Holiness  rose  from  his  throne,  to 
clasp  him  in  his  arms.  But  the  cordial  greetings  proved  no 
unmixed  pleasure  for  the  soul  of  the  humble  missionary,  since 
he  discovered  that  there  was  serious  question  of  making  him  a 
bishop.  However,  with  the  help  of  the  Father  General,  he 
succeeded  in  parrying  off  the  dignity  from  himself,  and  at  his 
suggestion  the  honor  went  to  the  Very  Rev.  F.  N.  Blanchet,  his 
senior  in  age  in  missionary  experience  in  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

Having  attained  his  object — its  accomplishment  being  greatly 
facilitated  by  the  enthusiasm  which  his  glowing  account  of  the 
new  field  among  the  Indians  created  everywhere — Father  De 
Smet  set  out  from  Europe  on  his  return  trip  to  Oregon.  He 
had  with  him  Fathers  John  Nobili,  Michael  Accolti,  Anthony 
Ravalli,  Louis  Vercruysse  and  a  lay  brother,  Francis  Huy- 
brechts,  together  with  a  colony  of  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame  of 
Namur.  The  band  left  Flushing,  Holland,  December  12,  1843, 
by  sailing  vessel.  They  rounded  Cape  Horn  and  touched  at 
Callao  and  Valparaiso.  On  July  31,  the  Feast  of  St.  Ignatius, 
they  crossed  the  treacherous  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia 
River,  where  they  barely  escaped  being  wrecked.  At  last,  they 
safely  reached  St.  Paul,  August  17,  eight  months  after  setting 
sail  from  Europe. 

With  the  approval  and  encouragement  of  the  Very  Rev.  Fran- 
cis N.  Blanchet,  it  was  now  resolved  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers  to 
establish  a  residence  here  which  should  be,  as  it  were,  the  mother- 
house,  as  well  as  the  center  of  supplies,  for  all  the  Indian  Mis- 


56         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

sions  in  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Accordingly  a  suitable  tract  of 
land  was  secured  for  the  purpose,  and  steps  were  also  taken  for 
the  erection  of  buildings,  the  place  and  new  Mission  being  named 
after  St.  Francis  Xavier. 

Father  De  Smet  had  not  yet  fully  recovered  from  his  long 
voyage,  when  he  was  taken  down  by  a  severe  attack  of  dysentery, 
which  laid  him  up  for  several  days.  When  able  to  be  about 
again  and  previous  to  his  setting  out  for  the  Missions  in  the 
upper  country,  he  picked  out  the  spot  whereon  the  buildings  in 
contemplation  were  to  stand.  He  then  left  the  Willamette  Val- 
ley, intending  to  go  and  pass  the  winter  among  the  Flat  Heads. 

On  November  6  he  reached  the  Kalispel  country,  where  Father 
Hoecken  a  few  months  before  had  opened  the  Mission  for  the 
Indians  of  that  name.  He  then  proceeded  to  the  Mission  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  among  the  Cceur  d'Alenes,  and  thence,  November 
17,  set  out  for  St.  Mary's.  The  season  was  too  far  advanced 
for  him  to  go  through,  the  Cceur  d'Alene  Mountains  having 
become  impassable.  He  retraced  his  steps  in  the  midst  of  untold 
dangers  and  hardships,  and  made  an  attempt  to  reach  his  object- 
ive by  the  Kalispel  trail,  but  without  success.  He  could  proceed 
no  further  than  the  Kalispel  Mission,  and  there  he  passed  the 
winter  with  Father  Hoecken.  He  reached  St.  Mary's  the  fol- 
lowing spring,  and  after  spending  there  sometime  with  the  Flat 
Heads,  he  started  out  again  to  visit  the  Indians  in  the  vicinity 
of  Fort  Colville. 

Whilst  he  was  thus  journeying  from  one  tribe  to  another  in 
the  wilds  of  the  mountains,  the  Father  in  charge  of  the  new 
Mission  on  the  Willamette,  together  with  his  companions,  was 
hard  at  work  erecting  the  building  that  had  been  planned  for 
the  residence.  But,  somehow,  this  was  not  located  on  the  site 
selected  by  Father  De  Smet,  but  on  another  nearby,  and  seem- 
ingly preferable.  Whatever  motives  may  have  prompted  such 
a  departing  from  his  orders,  they  did  not  appeal  to  him  and 
the  building  was  ordered  pulled  down  and  reconstructed  on  the 
spot  where  he  wanted  it  to  stand.  This,  no  doubt,  entailed  con- 
siderable loss;  but,  then,  material  losses  are  often  gain  in  the 
service  of  God.  He  changed  the  local  Superior,  Father  De  Vos, 
whom  he  assigned  to  the  Kalispel  Mission,  and  whose  place  at 
St.  Francis  Xavier  was  taken  by  Father  Accolti. 


FATHER  DE  SMET  GOES  TO  EUROPE  57 

Another  band  of  men  for  the  Missions  landed  on  the  Willa- 
mette in  1847.  They,  too,  had  doubled  Cape  Horn,  being  from 
nine  to  ten  months  making  the  voyage  from  Europe.  The  band 
consisted  of  Fathers  Gregory  Gazzoli,  Anton  Goetz,  and  Joseph 
Menetrey,  with  three  lay  brothers,  one  of  whom  was  Natalis 
Savio.  We  need  not  mention  the  two  others,  who  fell  by  the 
wayside  and  proved  untrue  to  their  calling  shortly  after  their 
arrival  in  this  country. 

Most  likely,  the  contemplated  head-mission  on  the  Willamette 
made  the  rounding  of  Cape  Horn  preferable  to  the  journey  over- 
land and  across  the  mountains.  It  was  not  long,  however,  before 
the  project  of  having  in  this  locality  the  headquarters  and  center 
of  supplies  was  reconsidered  and  given  up,  owing,  principally, 
to  the  great  distance,  and  the  difficulties  of  travel. 

But  even  so,  and  while  this  may  have  fully  justified  a  modi- 
fication of  the  original  plans,  it  appears  to  have  been  ill-advised 
and  a  serious  mistake  for  the  Fathers  to  abandon  the  place 
altogether.  For  no  one  will  deny  that  their  withdrawal  proved 
a  great  detriment  to  the  cause  of  religion  throughout  the  whole 
of  this  section. 


Chapter  X. 

FIRST  GRIST   MILL  AND  FIRST  SAW   MILL  IN   MONTANA. DANGERS 

AND   HARDSHIPS  OF   EARLY  INDIAN    MISSIONARY   LIFE. 

RETURNING  to  the  local  history  of  the  Flat  Head  Mission, 
we  regret  to  have  to  chronicle  a  melancholy  event,  the 
untimely  and  sudden  death  of  Father  Peter  Zerbinatti,  which 
occurred  early  in  the  fall  of  1845,  and  which  rilled  with  grief  his 
confreres  and  every  member  of  that  new  Christian  community.* 

As  previously  related,  Father  Zerbinatti  came  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains  in  the  summer  of  1844,  a  little  over  a  year  before 
his  untimely  death.  He  was  assigned  to  St.  Mary's  as  com- 
panion and  assistant  to  Father  Mengarini  and  applied  himself 
assiduously  to  the  study  of  the  Indian  language,  in  which  he 
soon  became  proficient.  One  day,  September  15,  not  feeling 
quite  well,  he  went  to  bathe  his  feet  in  the  river  close  by. 
Whether  he  was  seized  by  cramps  brought  on  by  the  chilling 
waters,  or  struck  by  apoplexy,  is  not  known.  Being  missed,  a 
brief  search  revealed  the  cause  of  his  absence:  he  was  found 
lifeless,  with  his  feet  in  the  water,  and  holding  fast  with  his 
hands  to  the  limb  of  a  tree  projecting  over  the  bank.  His  death 
was  a  sad  and  serious  loss  for  the  new  Mission. 

Father  Peter  Zebinatti  was  the  first  priest  to  die  in  Montana, 
and  his  remains  were  buried  at  St.  Mary's,  where  they  reposed 
some  twenty-nine  years.  With  the  help  of  some  Indians,  who 
had  assisted  at  the  Father's  funeral  and  asserted  that  they  knew 

*  By  many  friends  in  the  mountains  the  Father's  name  has  been  spelled 
Zerbinati,  with  one  "t."  So  also  it  is  spelled  by  Shea,  History  of  Catholic 
Missions,  p.  479,  when  its  proper  spelling  is  Zerbinatti,  with  two  "t's."  We 
were  kindly  informed  of  this  quite  recently  by  V.  M.  Dente,  S.  J.,  New  York 
City,  who  also  called  our  attention  to  the  fact  that  Father  Zerbinatti  did 
not  belong  to  the  Roman  Province,  as  we  stated  in  our  first  edition,  but  to 
the  Province  of  Naples.  This  is  manifest  from  the  Catalogues  of  both  the 
Missouri  and  Neapolitan  Provinces;  and  also  from  the  Elenchus  Dcfunctorum 
S.  J.  where  we  read:  Pater  Petrus  Zerbinatti,  Ortus  3,  Aug.  1809,  Udine. 
Ingressus  14,  April.  1825,  Ncapolitana.  Obitus  15,  Sept.  1S45,  in  Resid.  Stae 
Marine,  Mont.  Saxos.  apud  Tetcs  Plates,  Oregon. 


FIRST  GRIST  MILL  AND  FIRST  SAW  MILL  59 

the  exact  spot  of  his  grave,   the  body  was  then  exhumed  by 
Fathers  Giorda  and  Van  Gorp  and  brought  to  St.  Ignatius. 

But  as  no  indication  was  ever  discovered  by  which  it  could 
be  ascertained  that  the  remains  removed  were  really  those  of 
Father  Zerbinatti,  their  identity  has  ever  been  a  matter  of  doubt, 
even  in  the  minds  of  the  two  Fathers  who  had  disinterred  and 
brought  them  to  St.  Ignatius. 

The  writer  himself  buried  those  very  remains  some  nine 
years  after,  placing  them  in  the  same  grave  with  the  body  of 
Brother  Joseph  Specht,  the  same  day  that  the  latter  was  laid 
to  rest,  June  19,  1884.  They  had  been  lying  in  a  corner  of  the 
sacristy,  apparently  forgotten. 

The  death  of  Father  Zerbinatti  brought  to  Montana  Father 
Ravalli,  who  was  at  this  time  on  duty  among  the  Colville 
Indians.  Directed  by  the  Superior  to  take  the  former's  place 
as  assistant  to  Father  Mengarini,  he  arrived  at  St.  Mary's  late 
in  the  fall  of  the  same  year,  1845. 

As  we  have  seen,  they  had  wheat  at  the  Mission  for  some 
time,  but  not  flour,  at  least  not  for  domestic  use.  What  little 
they  had  was  imported  once  a  year  from  Vancouver,  or  Fort 
Colville,  and  almost  exclusively  for  altar  purposes.  More  than 
once  there  had  not  been  enough  of  the  article  to  supply  the 
missionaries  with  altar  bread  the  year  around.  As  to  "the 
thing"  made  at  the  Mission  by  passing  the  grain  through  a 
coffee-mill,  or  by  pounding  it  in  the  hollow  of  a  stone,  far  from 
being  flour,  it  was  not  even  a  decent  substitute.  Hence,  up  to 
this  time,  the  wheat  had  to  be  boiled  or  roasted. 

It  was  not  long,  however,  before  flour  and  bread  became 
realities  and  associated  ideas  with  wheat  and  wheat-raising, 
even  among  the  Flat  Heads  in  the  wilds  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. On  leaving  Antwerp  for  the  Indian  Missions  in  North 
America,  Father  Ravalli  had  been  presented  by  Mr.  McCoy, 
a  merchant  of  that  city,  with  a  set  of  small  buhrstones,  some 
twelve  inches  in  diameter  or  thereabout.  Accepting  the  gift,  he 
took  the  stones  with  him  to  St.  Xavier's,  on  the  Willamette, 
Oregon,  where  he  was  to  land,  and  thence,  packed  on  the  back 
of  a  horse,  they  were  transported,  sometime  after,  to  St.  Mary's 
among  the  Flat  Heads.  Ingenuity,  mechanical  skill  and  hard 
work  did  the  rest.     Through  the  persistent  efforts  of  Father 


6o 


INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 


Ravalli,  the  two  Brothers  and  a  French  Canadian,  a  miniature 
milling  plant,  the  first  grist  mill  in  Montana,  was  constructed, 


Stones  of  First  Flour  Mill  in  Montana — St.  Mary's  Mission. 

wherein  the  tiny  buhrstones,  made  to  run  by  water  power,  were 
turning  out  excellent  flour,  though  the  amount  was  barely  suf- 
ficient in  the  beginning  to  supply  that  small  Indian  community. 

The  stones  can  be  seen,  among  other  mementoes  of  the  early 
history  of  the  state,  in  the  Capitol  Museum  at  Helena. 

Necessity  has  always  been  the  mother  of  invention,  and  so 
the  first  saw  mill  in  Montana  was  constructed  by  the  Jesuit 
Fathers  here  at  St.  Mary's.  It  was,  however,  a  most  primitive 
affair,  four  wagon  tires  being  welded  together  and  formed  into 
a  crank,  to  work  the  saw.  A  fifth  tire,  flattened  out  and 
hardened  into  a  steel  blade  by  dint  of  hammering,  and  then 
toothed  by  means  of  a  cold  chisel  and  long  filing,  made  the  saw. 
A  sledge  hammer  from  melted  tin  cans  was  also  a  curious 
and  useful  piece  of  work  of  Brother  Joseph  Specht;  while 
Father  Ravalli,  by  means  of  a  miniature  still  of  his  own  making, 
could  extract  a  good  alcohol  for  medicinal  purposes  from  the 
camas  root. 

The  Fathers'  manner  of  living  at  St.  Mary's  was  in  the  main 
like  that  of  the  natives,  their  fare  consisting  of  dried  buffalo 
meat  and  its  tallow,  of  game,  roots  and  berries.  When  the 
missionaries    first    arrived    among    them,    the    Indians    brought 


FIRST  GRIST  MILL  AND  FIRST  SAW  MILL  61 

them  some  seventy  bales  of  buffalo  meat,  each  bale  weighing 
close  to  eighty  pounds.  Beginning  with  the  spring  of  1842, 
they  were  able  to  plant  a  garden  and  raise  a  variety  of  vege- 
tables such  as  carrots,  onions,  lettuce,  beans.  Fish  they  had 
in  abundance  from  the  river  close  by,  whose  clear  waters  were 
then  alive  with  mountain  trout. 

But  while  food  was  not  wanting,  isolation  and  dangers  made 
the  Fathers'  life  very  trying.  When  we  state  that  the  order 
recalling  Father  Point  to  the  Missions  of  Upper  Canada,  issued 
from  France  in  1844,  took  three  long  years  to  reach  him,  an 
idea  may  be  had  of  the  difficulty  of  communication  in  those 
days,  as  well  as  of  the  isolation  of  our  missionaries.  Scarcely 
once  a  year  did  they  hear  from  the  outside  world;  and  this 
only  at  the  cost  of  a  long  journey  to  the  lower  country,  when 
they  went  to  Vancouver  for  their  annual  supply  of  altar  wine 
and  other  provisions.  Nor  were  they  always  sure  of  safety 
either  in  going  or  coming,  as  the  Indians,  whom  they  took 
along  or  sent  to  fetch  the  supplies,  were  attacked  by  hostile 
bands  and  robbed  of  all  they  carried  twice  within  five  years. 

The  Mission  itself  was  not  secure,  it  being  often  menaced 
by  the  enemies  of  the  Flat  Heads,  especially  at  the  hunting 
seasons,  when  most  of  the  men  of  the  tribe  would  be  away 
in  the  buffalo  country.  At  times,  even  as  much  as  to  venture 
out  of  the  stockade  which  they  had  built  for  their  protection, 
was  unsafe,  as  the  missionaries  were  in  danger  of  being  shot 
at  by  some  Bannack  or  Blackfoot  Indian  prowling  about  or 
lurking  in  the  brush.  The  environs  of  the  Mission  were  covered 
with  thick  underbrush,  and  frequently  hostile  Indians  would 
lie  ambushed  for  days,  biding  their  chance  to  come  out, 
murder  and  scalp  some  Flat  Heads,  and  run  away  with  their 
ponies.  Someone  had  to  stand  guard  on  such  occasions,  and 
the  man  on  watch  during  the  night  would  now  and  then  fire 
blank  shots  in  the  air,  as  a  warning  to  prowlers. 

One  day  some  Flat  Heads  discovered  in  the  brush,  quite 
near  the  residence  of  the  Fathers,  a  Blackfoot,  one  of  a  war 
party  who  had  come  to  steal  their  horses.  Laying  hold  of 
him,  they  took  him  to  their  camp  and,  after  a  brief  consultation, 
put  him  to  death.  Another  Blackfoot,  to  whom  the  hospitality 
and  friendship  of  the  tribe  had  been  extended,  happened  to  be 


62         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

in  the  camp  at  this  very  time.  Becoming  alarmed  and,  afraid 
for  his  own  life,  he  now  sought  to  flee,  and  started  out  on  a 
run.  He  was  instantly  fired  upon  as  a  traitor.  But,  though 
mortally  wounded,  he  lived  long  enough  to  be  instructed  and 
baptized  at  his  own  request  by  Father  Ravalli,  in  whose  opinion 
the  man's  life  seemed  to  have  been  providentially  prolonged, 
that  he  might  die  in  the  faith. 

The  killing  of  these  two  people,  but  particularly  of  the  latter 
who  was  a  man  of  great  influence  with  his  tribe,  could  not  but 
incense  the  Blackfeet  nation.  Hence  the  well-grounded  fear 
that  they  would  soon  come  in  force  and  wreak  their  vengeance, 
not  only  on  the  Flat  Heads,  but  also  on  the  Mission  and 
missionaries.  To  make  matters  worse,  the  Flat  Heads  had  all 
gone  by  this  time,  the  latter  part  of  August,  to  chase  the  buffalo, 
and  had  left  behind  only  one  feeble  old  man,  two  boys  who 
were  staying  with  the  Fathers,  and  a  few  old  women  who  had 
several  little  children  in  their  keeping.  In  constant  dread  of  being 
surprised  by  their  foes,  these  helpless  people  would  gather  every 
evening  within  the  enclosure  for  protection  during  the  night. 

Early  one  morning,  September  12,  a  savage  yell  rent  the  air, 
and  a  large  body  of  Blackfeet  were  seen  advancing  toward  the 
stockade.  Father  Mengarini  had  gone  to  St.  Paul,  Oregon, 
to  consult  with  the  Superior  of  the  Missions,  leaving  Father 
Ravalli  and  Brother  Claessens  to  look  after  things  at  St.  Mary's. 
Resigned  to  their  lot  and  expecting  any  moment  to  be  slain, 
both  fell  on  their  knees,  to  meet  death  in  prayer.  The  suspense 
did  not  last  long.  An  invisible  power  seemed  to  render  the 
marauders  confused  and  undecided.  They  whooped  and  yelled, 
going  round  and  round  the  premises,  but  made  no  attempt  to 
force  their  way  into  the  enclosure  by  scaling  or  breaking  through 
the  palisades.  Then  all  of  a  sudden  and  most  unexpectedly, 
they  retired  into  the  brush,  but  not  before  they  had  taken  the 
life  of  one  of  the  two  boys  who  were  staying  with  the  mission- 
aries. Too  eager  to  know  whether  they  had  gone,  the  youth 
opened  the  gate  a  little  to  look  out.  He  was  seen  by  the 
retreating  savages  who  shot  him  dead  on  the  spot.  They  left 
the  valley  soon  after,  running  off  several  horses  that  were 
grazing  around  the  Mission.* 

*  The  writer  learned  all  this  from  Father  Ravalli  and  Brother  Claessens. 


FIRST  GRIST  MILL  AND  FIRST  SAW  MILL  63 

Notwithstanding  isolation,  privations  and  dangers,  the  Fathers 
kept  bravely  on  in  their  work  of  improving  the  condition  of 
their  spiritual  wards,  whose  good  will,  docility,  and  affection 
were  all  the  compensation  they  sought  here  below.  The  result 
we  have  seen  partially  described  by  Lieut.  John  Mullan  in  his 
official  report  quoted  in  a  previous  chapter.  And  to  quote  the 
same  honorable  gentleman  once  more,  we  are  told  by  Ihim 
that,  "the  tribe  of  Flat  Heads  among  the  Indians  is  a  subject 
of  the  highest  esteem,  and  all  that  I  have  witnessed  myself 
justifies  this  advantageous  opinion."  And  again,  "the  heroism 
of  the  Flat  Heads  in  battle  and  their  good  faith  toward  others 
have  been  the  theme  of  praise  both  from  priest  and  layman." 
To  the  testimony  of  Lieut.  Mullan  may  be  added  that  of  Gov- 
ernor Isaac  Stevens,  who  in  his  report  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States  speaks  as  follows  of  our  Flat  Heads:  "They 
are  the  best  Indians  of  the  Territory,  honest,  brave  and  docile." 
And  again  in  describing  their  manner  of  living,  he  says  of 
them:  "They  are  sincere  and  faithful  and  strongly  attached 
to  their  religious  convictions."  These  statements  were  repro- 
duced and  endorsed  by  Mr.  Pierce  himself  in  his  Annual  Message 
to  Congress. 

That  so  favorable  a  testimony  deserved  by  them  in  the  past, 
is  no  less  due  to  them  at  the  present  day,  became  strikingly 
evident  during  the  Nez  Perces  outbreak  of  recent  date.  It  is 
well  known  that  the  rebel  band  of  Joseph  sought  first  to  tempt, 
and  then  to  intimidate  the  Flat  Heads  into  making  common 
cause  with  them  against  the  whites.  But  all  to  no  avail;  and 
we  shall  see  further  on  in  our  narrative,  how  the  loyal  and 
noble  conduct  of  the  Flat  Head  chief,  Chariot,  and  his  son, 
saved  the  Bitter  Root  Valley  from  pillage  and  bloodshed  on 
that  critical  occasion. 


Chapter  XL 

st.  mary's  mission  temporarily  closed — father  Joseph 

giorda.    the  mission  reopened father 

anthony  ravalli. 

WE  MUST  now  chronicle  a  fact  both  sad  and  significant. 
To  the  great  surprise  of  many  who  had  become  deeply 
interested  in  the  Flat  Heads,  St.  Mary's  Mission,  not  quite  ten 
years  after  its  establishment,  was  abandoned.  The  causes  that 
led  up  to  the  event,  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  ascertain, 
were  the  following. 

Father  De  Smet  in  his  intercourse  with  the  Indians  had  been 
rather  generous  and  open-handed;  while  his  successor,  Father 
G.  Mengarini,  felt  obliged  to  retrench  and  husband  the  scant 
resources  of  the  Mission.  The  Flat  Head  Mission  had  been 
abandoned.  "And  I  am  accused  of  being  the  cause  of  this  by 
my  liberalities  and  promises  to  the  Indians  which  they  (the  mis- 
sionaries) could  not  sustain."  So  wrote  Father  De  Smet  to  his 
former  Superior,  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Van  De  Velde,  in  a 
letter  dated  St.  Louis  University,  May  I,  1852.* 

Father  Mengarini's  economic  administration  was  evidently 
contrasted  with  the  liberal  ways  of  Father  De  Smet,  and  not 
only  found  fault  with,  but  seems  to  have  been  considered  by 
some  as  the  cause  for  abandoning  St.  Mary's. 

While  we  emphatically  deny  the  latter,  we  must  admit  that 
Father  Mengarini's  course  may  have  been  the  occasion  of  some 
discontent  among  a  few  of  the  Indians,  as  it  was  likewise 
the  pretext  which  evil-doers  made  use  of,  to  work  up  what  led 
to  the  closing  of  the  Mission.  But  these  latter  were  the  real 
cause  of  its  suppression. 

The  mischief  was  done  by  the  wicked  tongue  of  a  few  whites 
and  half-breeds,  a  handful  of  discontents,  who,  under  one  pre- 
tence or  another,  expected  and  even  demanded  support   from 

*  Life,  Letters  and  Travels  of  Pierre  Jean  De  Smet,  S.  J.,  by  Hiram  Martin 
Chittenden  and  Alfred  Talbot  Richardson :   F.  P.  Harper,  New  York,  1905. 


FATHER  ANTHONY  RAVALLI  65 

the  Mission,  or  sought  to  live  off  the  scant  sustenance 
of  the  Indians.  These  whites  were  eight  or  ten  emigrants  on 
their  way  to  Oregon,  who  had  chosen  to  spend  the  winter  of 
1849-50  in  the  country  of  the  Flat  Heads.  They  lived  as 
drones  on  the  substance  of  others,  and  led  notoriously  licentious 
lives,  to  the  scandal  of  the  whole  tribe.  Three  or  four  half- 
breeds,  whose  morals  were  no  better  than  those  of  their 
white-skinned  cousins,  served  as  intermediaries  to  spread  dis- 
content among  the  rest  of  the  community.  When  they  did  not 
receive  all  they  wanted,  and  when  their  immorality  was  rebuked, 
they  took  revenge  by  slandering  the  missionaries,  especially 
Father  Mengarini,  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  poisoning  the 
simple  minds  of  the  Indians  against  them  and  their  work. 

It  should  be  added  that  they  could  vent  their  spitefulness 
without  let  or  hindrance,  and  say  and  do  whatsoever  they 
pleased.  Whom  or  what  could  they  fear  where  no  authority 
existed  to  restrain  and  punish  their  evil  conduct?  Hence  the 
Fathers  were  at  the  mercy  of  their  traducers.  They  were 
utterly  defenseless  and  had  no  means  of  redress. 

So  successful  were  the  evil  tongues  that  the  Flat  Heads  who 
heretofore  had  been  so  willing,  so  docile  and  so  devoted,  became 
estranged  and  suspicious,  to  such  a  degree  that  all  the  endeavors 
of  the  missionaries  for  their  spiritual  welfare  went  unheeded. 

We  relate  what  we  have  read  and  heard,  and  cannot  doubt 
that  there  was  much  truth  in  these  statements.  Nevertheless, 
we  think  the  pictures  must  have  been  overdrawn.  From  their 
past  record  and  from  all  we  have  learned  of  the  Flat  Heads, 
so  great  a  change  in  so  short  a  time  carries  a  certain  improba- 
bility. It  can  hardly  be  accounted  for,  except  on  the  supposition 
that  this  sudden  change  of  disposition  was  like  one  of  those 
summer  storms  which  burst  suddenly,  but  soon  pass  away. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  early  in  the  spring  of  1850,  Father 
Mengarini  hastened  to  St.  Xavier's,  on  the  Willamette,  to 
lay  matters  before  Father  M.  Accolti,  the  new  general  Superior 
of  the  Missions.  As  shown  by  his  record,  Father  Accolti  had 
no  great  predilection  for  missionary  work  among  the  Indians; 
and  the  prospect  of  a  promising  Mission  in  California  appeared 
to  draw  his  attention  in  that  direction  just  at  this  time.  May 
it  not  have  been  that  contemplated  Mission  in  California  that 


66         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

brought  about  the  hasty  closing  of  the  Mission  among  the 
Flat  Heads  Perhaps  we  are  mistaken,  but  all  appearances  seem 
to  point  that  way.* 

Having  been  informed  how  things  stood  at  St.  Mary's, 
Father  Accolti  directed  Father  Joset  to  proceed  to  the  country 
of  the  Flat  Heads  and  close  the  Mission,  at  least  for  a  time. 
A  strong  measure,  without  doubt,  but  it  was  considered  advisable 
that  the  Indians  might  learn  to  appreciate  the  value  of  the 
missionaries  by  the  loss  of  their  services. 

It  seems  that  after  this  step  had  been  resolved  upon,  some 
further  information  of  a  nature  less  unfavorable  to  the  Indians 
had  reached  Father  Accolti.  But  on  his  own  declaration,  it 
had  come  too  late  for  him  to  countermand  orders  and  stay 
proceedings,  as  letters  were  already  on  the  way  to  acquaint 
Father-General  with  the  temporary  closing  of  St.  Mary's. 

Father  Joset  arrived  at  the  Flat  Head  Mission  in  October 
and  set  about  the  unpleasant  task  that  had  been  assigned  to 
him.  He  leased  the  improvements  to  Major  John  Owen,  an 
independent  trader  in  the  vicinity,  with  the  provision  that  thev 
were  to  revert  to  the  Fathers,  should  they  return  within  a  stated 
time,  the  space  of  three  years,  as  they  intended  to  do.  In  the 
meanwhile,  everything  had  to  be  kept  by  the  lessee  in  good 
order. 

The  bill  of  lease  and  conditional  sale  between  Father  Joset 
and  John  Owen  for  the  consideration  of  $300,  bore  the  date — 
St.  Mary's  Mission  Flat  Head  Country,  November  9,  1850.  It 
is  the  first  written  conveyance  ever  made  within  the  limits  of 
Montana.  The  bill  spoke  only  of  the  improvements,  since  only 
these,  and  nothing  else,  did  Father  Joset  lease  to  John  Owen. 

*  Father  Accolti  was  nominated  Superior  of  Missions  in  1848,  but  did  not 
enter  into  office  until  January  or  February  of  1850,  as  it  took  some  two  years 
for  letters  from  Rome  to  come  to  our  mountains  in  those  days.  By  1849, 
California  had  become  a  magnet  for  the  world.  Father  Accolti  with  Father 
Nobili  went  thither  early  in  December  of  that  year.  The  possibilities  of 
that  country  as  a  missionary  field  so  impressed  him  that  he  took  steps  to  obtain 
a  permanent  location  there.  On  his  appointment  as  general  Superior  he 
returned  to  Oregon,  but  only  for  a  short  time  and  principally  with  the  object 
of  furthering  his  plans  for  the  new  Mission  in  California,  which  seemed  to 
be  uppermost  on  his  mind.  No  doubt  he  acted  as  he  thought  best.  He  as- 
signed some  of  the  missionaries  to  the  new  field,  and  leaving  Father  Joset 
at  St.  Xavier  to  act  in  his  stead  during  his  absence,  he  hastened  back  to 
California,  and  never  returned  to  the  Indian  Missions. 


FATHER   ANTHONY   RAVALLI  67 

Attached  to  St.  Mary's  at  the  time  of  its  suppression  were 
Fathers  Mengarini  and  Ravalli,  with  three  Brothers,  Claessens, 
Bellomo  and  Savio.  They  now  disbanded,  Father  Ravalli  going 
to  the  Mission  of  the  Sacred  Heart  among  the  Cceur  d'Alenes, 
and  Father  Mengarini  to  St.  Francis  Xavier,  on  the  Willamette. 

To  this  latter  place  were  also  assigned  Brothers  Bellomo  and 
Savio,  who  reached  their  destination  safely,  but  somewhat 
disgruntled,  the  first  leaving  the  Society  shortly  after. 

With  whatever  effects  could  be  transported,  loaded  on  four 
wagons  and  three  carts,  a  few  head  Of  stock,  namely,  three 
cows  and  some  work  cattle,  Father  Joset  and  Brother  Claessens 
started  for  the  Kalispel  Mission,  on  the  shores  of  Pend  d'Oreille 
Lake.  Their  course  lay  through  the  Coriacan  defile,  known 
today  as  O'Keefe's  Canyon,  and  along  the  Jocko.  Flaving 
reached  Rivais's  Prairie,  which  lies  at  the  angle  formed  by 
the  Jocko  and  the  south  bank  of  the  Flat  Head  River,  the 
caravan  halted  and  pitched  their  tents  for  the  winter,  a  short 
distance  from  Antoin  Rivais's  present  home. 

Thirty  Flat  Head  lodges,  who  much  regretted  the  departure 
of  the  Fathers,  followed  the  two  missionaries  and  camped  on 
the  same  prairie  till  the  following  spring. 

It  had  been  planned  by  Father  Joset  and  the  Brother  to  pursue 
the  rest  of  the  journey  by  water;  and  therefore  with  the  help 
of  several  Indians  they  constructed  during  the  winter  a  few 
flat  boats,  on  which  at  the  first  rise  of  the  river  in  the  spring 
they  intended  to  proceed  to  their  destination.  Evidently,  they 
did  not  know  that  any  attempt  to  navigate  the  stream,  owing 
to  breakers,  falls,  treacherous  whirlpools  and  rapids  here  and 
there  in  its  course,  was  extremely  hazardous. 

One  of  the  rafts  was  wrecked  near  Horesplains,  and  a  few 
miles  below,  at  Thompson  Falls,  the  remainder  met  with  the 
same  fate.  Happily,  no  lives  were  lost;  but  everything  else 
was  either  swallowed  up  or  carried  off  by  the  raging  current. 
As  a  consequence,  Father  Joset  and  Brother  Claessens  had  to 
make  their  way  to  the  Mission  as  best  they  could,  under  untold 
difficulties  and  hardships. 

Some  months  after  this  mishap,  an  Indian  happened  to  find 
on  the  river's  bank  a  small  wooden  box.  He  pried  it  open, 
but  immediately  closed  it  again;  and  having  wrapped  it  carefully 


68         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

in  a  blanket,  he  took  it  hastily  to  the  Mission.  "Black  Robe," 
said  he  to  the  Father,  "here  are  the  Brother's  people;  they 
got  drowned  and  speak  no  more."  The  box,  the  only  relic 
recovered  from  the  wreck,  contained  a  set  of  marionettes  with 
which  good  Brother  Savio  occasionally  amused  and  instructed 
the  Indians. 

Scarcely  had  the  Fathers  left  St.  Mary's  than  the  scales  fell 
from  the  eyes  of  the  deluded  Flat  Heads,  and  they  begged 
most  humbly  for  the  return  of  the  missionaries.  But  the  course 
of  events  had  already  altered  conditions  to  such  an  extent  that 
it  was  impracticable  to  grant  the  request. 

The  opening  of  the  California  Mission  had  reduced  the  number 
of  laborers  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  otherwise  impaired 
the  efficiency  of  the  Missions  among  the  Indians.  As  expressed 
by  the  old  saw :  Pluribus  intentus  minor  erit  ad  singula  sensus, 
in  all  human  undertakings  and  in  everything  under  the  sun 
where  all  is  finite  and  limited,  a  gain  in  one  direction  is  not 
obtainable  without  some  loss  in  another.  There  is  no  way  out 
of  it.  How  could  it  be  otherwise  in  the  present  case?  The 
gain  for  the  whites  in  California  was  the  loss  for  the  Indians 
in  the  Rocky  Mountains;  and  as  a  consequence  St.  Mary's 
Mission  could  not  be  reopened  until  sixteen  years  later.  This 
is  the  record  of  history. 

Although  left  without  resident  missionaries,  however,  the  Flat 
Heads  were  not  entirely  forsaken  during  that  interval,  as  they 
were  occasionally  visited  from  other  Missions.  Still,  such  visits 
were  few  and  far  between,  especially  during  the  first  six  years 
after  St.  Mary's  had  been  abandoned.  This  was  the  inevitable 
consequence  of  the  withdrawal  of  men  from  the  Indian  Missions 
for  the  new  field  in  California. 

Hence  it  came  to  pass  that  the  prospects  of  the  Missions  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains  from  1849  to  1854-55,  were  very  dis- 
couraging; while  the  California  Mission  entered  on  a  period 
of  remarkable  and  very  successful  activity.  It  has  been  charged 
that  by  branching  out  into  California  Father  Accolti  exceeded 
his  authority.  If  so,  his  action  may  be  considered  as  one  of 
those  happy  and  providential  mistakes  which,  without  ceasing 
to  be  mistakes  on  the  part  of  man,  are  nevertheless  permitted 


FATHER   ANTHONY   RAVALLI  69 

and  made  use  of  by  God  to  work  out  and  accomplish  the  ends 
of  His  Divine  Wisdom. 

Sprung  into  existence  at  the  initiative  of  Father  Accolti  as 
an  offshoot  of  the  Missions  under  his  charge,  the  California 
Mission  was,  like  the  rest,  under  his  jurisdiction.  In  1854, 
the  Indian  Missions  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  which  from  their 
beginning  to  185 1  had  been  to  some  extent  under  the  Vice- 
Province  of  Missouri,  and  then  for  about  three  years  directly 
under  Father-General,  were  assigned  to  the  Province  of  Turin. 
Naturally,  the  Mission  of  California  was  part  of  the  charge 
and  Father  Congiato  who  was  appointed  August  1,  1854, 
became  the  Superior.  This  arrangement  continued  till  1858, 
that  is,  long  enough  to  prove  itself  inadequate  and  unsatisfactory, 
owing  to  the  rapid  growth  of  the  California  Mission. 

From  the  very  nature  of  things  and  persons,  the  diversity 
of  the  work  for  the  whites  in  California  and  for  the  aborigines 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  was  such  that  practically  neither  the 
good  of  the  former  nor  that  of  the  latter  could  be  attended  to, 
except  at  each  other's  expense.  The  more  so,  because  the 
number  of  men  available  for  the  work  was  utterly  insufficient. 
Hence  the  California  Mission  and  the  Mission  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  handicapped  each  other,  and  retarded  in  divers  ways 
development  and  progress  of  both. 

A  glance  at  some  of  the  facts  of  this  period  will  make  this 
clear.  Of  the  five  Residences  or  Missions  previously  established 
in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  two  only,  the  Cceur  d'Alenes  Mission 
and  that  of  St.  Ignatius,  remained  in  1858-59.  And  it  stands 
on  record  that  even  the  Cceur  d'Alenes  Mission  would  have 
been  closed  but  for  the  remonstrances  and  entreaties  of  Lieut. 
John  Mullan,  U.  S.  A.  No  doubt  the  hostile  disposition  against 
the  whites,  which  the  natives  displayed  at  this  time,  and  which 
culminated  in  the  so-called  Cayouse  and  Yakima  wars,  had 
its  share  in  bringing  about  such  a  reduction  in  the  number  of 
the  Indian  Missions.  But  it  is  no  less  certain  that  the  pressing 
need  of  men  to  carry  on  the  work  in  California  had  also  much 
to  do  with  it. 

In  1858,  the  two  Missions  were  made  independent  of  each 
other.  A  new  Superior  was  given  to  California,  while  the 
Indian  Missions  were  left  in  the  keeping  of  Father  Congiato, 


70         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

who  could  now  devote  all  his  attention  to  their  development. 
With  this  new  arrangement,  things  began  to  appear  more  hopeful 
in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  the  outlook  brightened  still  more 
with  the  arrival  of  Father  Camillus  Imoda  in  1859,  and  of 
Father  Jos.  Giorda  in  i860. 

Father  Congiato  remained  in  charge  till  the  latter  part  of 
January,  1862,  and  during  this,  as  well  as  during  the  preceding 
term  of  his  Superiorship,  he  visited  the  Indian  Missions  in 
Montana  several  times  and  took  much  interest  in  their  advance- 
ment. The  good  work  done  by  him  was  now  taken  up  by  his 
successor,  Father  Jos.  Giorda,  a  man  of  sterling  virtue  and  of 
more  than  ordinary  zeal  and  talent. 

Father  Giorda's  first  endeavors  were  directed  to  supplying 
the  field  with  new  laborers,  which  he  did  by  calling  for  new 
men  and  getting  back  some  of  the  veterans,  one  of  the  latter 
being  Father  A.  Ravalli.  Of  the  former,  not  to  go  beyond  the 
limits  of  our  subject,  we  shall  mention  those  only  who  at  one 
time  or  another  did  missionary  duty  in  Montana.  They  were 
Fathers  Urban  Grassi,  Joseph  Caruana,  James  Vanzina,  Pascal 
Tosi,  Francis  X.  Kuppens,  Joseph  Cataldo,  Jerome  D'Aste, 
Leopold  Van  Goro,  and  Joseph  Bandini ;  all  men  of  zeal, 
devotedness  and  marks  of  efficiency  in  the  Lord's  vineyard. 
The  names  of  several  of  them  became  household  words  through- 
out the  length  and  breadth  of  our  state  and  will  frequently 
appear  in  these  pages. 

The  writer,  too,  might  be  added  to  the  number  if  he  were 
worth  the  count.  But,  indeed,  well  worth  the  counting  were 
several  coadjutor  Brothers,  Pascal  Megazzini,  Lucien  D'Agos- 
tino,  Achilles  Carfagno,  and  others  who  have  rendered  yeoman's 
service  to  the  Missions  by  their  industry,  fidelity  and  endurance, 
and  became  well  and  favorably  known  in  Montana. 

Father  Giorda  took  charge  of  the  field  at  a  most  trying  time. 
The  rush  of  whites,  consequent  to  the  discovery  of  gold  in 
different  places;  the  restlessness  of  the  natives  at  seeing  their 
country  invaded  and  occupied  by  pale  faces;  the  changes  and 
rapid  transformations  which  the  whites  were  bringing  about 
everywhere;  the  scarcity  of  laborers;  the  specious  and  plausible 
reasoning,  "that  the  white  man  had  come  to  stay,  and  should  be 
cared  for  in  preference  to,  or  at  least  as  much  as  the  redskins" 


FATHER   ANTHONY   RAVALLI  71 

— all  of  which  will  better  appear  in  the  course  of  our  history — 
rendered  the  first  period  of  Father  Giorda's  administration  a 
crucial  and  most  difficult  one.  Add  to  all  this  the  constant  and 
well-nigh  interminable  journey  ings  the  whole  year  round  through 
the  entire  region  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  known  today  as 
Montana,  Idaho  and  Washington,  and  some  idea  can  be  formed 
of  the  fatigue,  toil,  privations,  and  hardships  he  had  to  endure 
in  the  discharge  of  his  duties. 

Having  carried  the  burden  a  little  over  four  years,  he  appeared 
to  break  under  it  during  the  spring  of  1866,  and  in  the  summer 
of  the  same  year  he  was  given  a  successor  in  the  person  of 
Father  U.  Grassi,  who  now  assumed  the  direction  of  the 
Missions  in  the  capacity  of  vice-Superior. 

Since  taking  charge  of  the  Indian  Missions,  the  yearning  of 
Father  Giorda's  heart  had  been  the  reopening  of  St.  Mary's.  It 
had  at  last  become  practicable,  and  it  may  be  said  to  have  been 
the  last  act  of  the  first  term  of  his  Superiorship.  With  the 
approval  of  the  vice-Superior,  he  himself  made  the  status,  which 
was  to  consist  of  himself,  Father  A.  Ravalli,  and  Bro.  Wm. 
Claessens;  and  in  September,  1866,  sixteen  years  after  its 
suppression,  "dear  old  St.  Mary's,"  as  the  two  veterans  who  had 
lived  there  before  loved  to  call  it,  had  been  restored. 

It  would  be  hard  to  tell  who  were  more  delighted  and  over- 
joyed, Father  Giorda  and  his  companions,  or  the  Indians,  at  the 
event.  But,  except  for  the  site  and  some  remnants  of  the  church, 
everything  else  had  disappeared.  The  Indians  were  poor,  but  no 
less  generous  for  that,  and  of  their  poverty  provided  the  mission- 
aries with  meat,  flour,  potatoes,  for  their  subsistence. 

In  September,  1868,  Father  Giorda  was  reappointed  Superior 
of  the  Missions,  but  he  still  made  St.  Mary's  his  headquarters 
when  not  on  his  rounds  to  the  different  Residences.  Here,  in 
in  the  summer  of  1869,  he  had  a  very  narrow  escape  from  death. 

Two  drunken  Indians,  named  respectively  Pascal  and  Charles, 
both  Pend  d'Oreilles,  rode  up  one  day  to  the  Fathers'  humble 
abode  and  stopped  in  front  of  it.  One  of  the  pair,  Pascal,  came 
quite  close  to  the  small  window  lighting  up  Father  Giorda's 
room.  He  looked  in,  and  seeing  the  Father  sitting  at  his  desk, 
fired  at  him  through  the  glass,  the  bullet  whizzing  by  the 
Father's  ears.     Aroused  by  the  shot,  Father  Giorda  hurriedly 


72         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

rose  up,  to  warn  Father  Ravalli  in  the  adjacent  room,  when  the 
Indian  fired  at  him  a  second  time.  Brother  Claessens  heard  the 
shooting,  and  at  his  alarm  Chief  Victor,  gun  in  hand,  ran  over 
to  protect  the  Fathers.  But  in  the  meanwhile,  the  villains  had 
galloped  off,  keeping  remarkably  well  balanced  on  their  ponies, 
despite  their  drunken  condition.  Happily,  no  other  evidence 
of  the  shooting  was  left,  but  the  shattered  window  pane  and  the 
bullets  imbedded  in  the  planking  that  lined  the  room,  just  oppo- 
site the  Father's  desk.  If  aught  else,  besides  whiskey,  had  any- 
thing to  do  with  prompting  the  outrage,  it  has  never  been 
ascertained. 

Father  Giorda  remained  Superior  till  June  17,  1874;  and  we 
but  voice  the  verdict  of  all  when  we  say  that  his  administration, 
so  prudent  and  fatherly,  won  him  the  esteem  and  love  of  every- 
body, and  proved  him  a  model  Superior. 

The  charge  of  the  Missions  now  passed  to  Fr.  J.  M.  Cataldo, 
who  has  borne  it  ever  since,  and  who  is  proving  himself  a 
worthy  successor  in  every  respect. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  immediate  care  of  St.  Mary's  fell 
successively  to  Fr.  Joseph  Bandini,  who  had  come  to  the  moun- 
tains by  the  way  of  California  and  Oregon  in  1867:  then,  to 
Fr.  Jos.  Guidi,  who  arrived  in  Montana  five  years  later,  and 
who  was  two  months  in  reaching  Fort  Benton  from  St.  Louib. 
Lastly,  it  fell  to  Fr.  Jerome  D'Aste,  who  held  it  for  a  number 
of  years,  being  a  general  favorite  with  whites  and  Indians 
because  of  his  devotedness  to  the  welfare  of  both,  and  his  genial, 
cheerful  ways  and  simple  manners.  Fr.  D'Aste  was  in  charge 
when  the  rebel  Nez  Perces  invaded  the  valley,  and  in  the  common 
opinion  of  the  people  in  that  section  his  influence  with  the  whites 
and  the  Indians,  together  with  his  tact,  prudent  counsel  and  his 
prayers,  had  much  to  do  with  the  maintenance  of  order  and 
peace.  For  three  or  four  days  the  tension  was  at  its  height, 
especially  at  Stevensville  and  in  its  immediate  vicinity;  and  no 
one  knows  what  bloody  strife  any  rash  move  on  the  part  of 
either  Indians  or  whites  would  have  precipitated  !* 

*We  have  before  us  the  ms.  notes  of  Fr.  D'Aste  on  the  Nez  Perces  raid 
into  the  Bitter  Root  Valley,  which  he  kindly  wrote  at  our  request.  Most  of 
the  particulars  given  here  and  there  in  our  narrative  anent  that  raid  are  from 
his  notes. 


The  Rev.  Joseph  Diamiani,  S.J. — The  Rev.  Jerome  D'Aste,  SJ. 

A    PAIR   OF   VETERANS    AT   ST.    IGNATIUS 


FATHER   ANTHONY   RAVALLI  73 

At  "dear  old  St.  Mary's,"  as  he  would  always  call  it,  Fr. 
Anthony  Ravalli  went  to  his  rest  on  the  Feast  of  the  Holy 
Angels,  October  2,  1884.  When  the  peaceful  summons  came  to 
bid  him  return  to  his  Maker,  Fr.  Ravalli  was  in  his  seventy-third 
year,  fifty  years  a  Jesuit  and  forty  years  a  missionary. 

His  funeral  was  attended  by  all  the  Flat  Heads  and  other 
Indians  from  neighboring  tribes,  as  well  as  by  a  large  number 
of  sorrowing  friends  from  amongst  the  whites,  who  came  from 
the  whole  Bitter  Root  Valley,  Missoula,  Hell's  Gate,  and  French- 
town.  At  Stevensville  the  U.  S.  Flag  hung  at  half-mast  for 
nearly  a  month,  and  during  the  greater  part  of  the  day  on  which 
the  obsequies  took  place  all  business  was  suspended.  His 
remains,  as  he  had  requested,  were  laid  to  rest  in  St.  Mary's 
Cemetery  among  the  Indians;  and  here  a  noble  monument  to 
his  memory  has  since  been  erected  by  the  contributions  of  his 
friends  and  admirers  from  all  over  the  State.  Some  forty  miles 
north  of  Missoula,  along  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway,  a  station, 
named  Ravalli  after  him,  keeps  his  memory  green,  and  speaks 
to  all,  to  those  who  live  there  as  well  as  to  those  who  pass  through 
the  place  from  near  and  far,  of  the  "great  good  man,"  as  all 
classes  of  people  loved  to  call  him. 

Father  A.  Ravalli  was  born  in  Ferrara,  Italy,  May  16,  181 2. 
At  the  age  of  fifteen,  November  12,  1827,  he  entered  the  Society 
of  Jesus,  and  after  his  novitiate  he  devoted  himself  for  several 
years  to  the  study  of  belles-lettres,  philosophy,  mathematics  and 
the  natural  sciences.  He  then  taught  for  a  time  in  Turin,  Pied- 
mont, and  other  parts  of  Italy.  Later  on,  he  completed  his  course 
of  divinity  and  after  one  year  more  of  noviceship,  as  is  customary 
in  the  Society,  took  his  final  vows,  April  21,  1844,  while  on  his 
way  to  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

With  a  longing  for  the  Indian  Missions  from  the  first  years 
of  his  religious  life,  Father  Ravalli,  whilst  preparing  for  the 
sacred  ministry,  sought  to  improve  himself  in  all  knowledge 
which  would  render  him  the  more  efficient  in  civilizing  the 
savages.  Hence,  to  the  study  of  philosophy  and  theology  he 
added  that  of  medicine.  Further,  making  himself  an  apprentice 
in  the  artist's  studio  and  in  the  shop  of  the  mechanic,  he  learned 
to  handle  with  considerable  skill  the  chisel  and  brush  of  the 
former,  as  well  as  the  tools  and  implements  of  the  latter.     In 


74         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

company  with  Father  De  Smet,  as  we  related,  he  arrived  in 
Oregon  in  August,  1844.  He  thence  passed  to  spend  the  winter 
among  the  Kalispels,  where  he  learned  the  secret  of  living 
without  many  of  the  so-called  necessaries  of  life.  In-  September, 
1845,  he  went  to  Colville,  but  scarcely  a  month  after,  he  was 
recalled  and  assigned  to  St.  Mary's,  to  fill  the  place  left  vacant 
by  the  death  of  Father  Zerbinatti. 

From  the  Cceur  d'Alenes  Mission,  whither  he  repaired  at  the 
closing  of  St.  Mary's,  he  returned  to  Colville.  While  here,  news 
was  brought  to  him  one  day  that  an  Indian  woman  had  quarreled 
with  her  husband,  and  driven  to  despair  by  jealousy,  had  hanged 
herself  to  a  tree  by  means  of  a  lariat.  Father  Ravalli  hastened 
to  the  spot  and,  cutting  the  lariat,  quickly  freed  the  woman's 
neck,  which,  upon  examination,  he  found  unbroken.  Although 
the  body  was  still  warm,  pulsation  at  the  wrists  and  at  the  heart 
had  entirely  ceased,  and  to  all  appearances  life  was  extinct.  He 
stretched  the  woman  on  the  ground,  and  began  to  breathe  into 
her  mouth  and  also  to  move  her  arms  up  and  down,  so  as  to 
impart,  artificially,  to  her  lungs  the  movements  of  natural  respi- 
ration. He  kept  working  in  this  manner  about  three-quarters  of 
an  hour,  when  a  slight  change,  a  mere  suspicion  of  color, 
appeared  on  the  lips  and  face  of  the  woman.  Encourged  by  this 
sign,  he  continued  his  endeavors,  and  soon  after  clearer  indica- 
tions of  returning  life  became  noticeable.  A  little  while  later, 
the  woman,  to  the  astonishment  of  everybody,  commenced  to 
breathe,  very  faintly  at  first,  then  more  freely  and  more  regularly. 
Finally,  she  opened  her  eyes,  and  was  soon  on  her  feet  and 
walking  about.  She  lived  to  be  an  old  woman.  This  unusual, 
yet  simple  occurrence  won  for  Father  Ravalli  among  the  Indians 
near  and  far  the  name  of  the  greatest  medicine-man  that  ever 
lived. 

From  Santa  Clara,  California,  whither  he  had  been  transferred 
in  i860,  and  where  he  filled,  for  a  time,  the  important  office  of 
Master  of  Novices,  he  returned  to  the  mountains  in  1863.  The 
gold-digging  period  in  Montana  had  now  set  in,  and  miners 
were  pouring  into  the  country  from  all  parts  in  search  of  the 
precious  metal.  There  were  at  the  time  few  physicians  in  these 
mountains,  and  as  Father  Ravalli  did  possess  considerable 
medical  knowledge  and  skill,  he  was  much  sought  after,  both  as 


FATHER   ANTHONY   RAVALLI  75 

priest  and  physician.  While  at  St.  Peter's  Mission,  at  Hell's 
Gate,  and  at  St.  Mary's,  as  long  as  he  was  able  to  move  about, 
he  went  from  place  to  place,  from  one  mining  camp  to  another, 
a  true  Samaritan,  relieving  the  ills  of  life  and  doing  good  to 
everybody;  and  many  a  white  man  as  well  as  Indian  owed  limb 
and  life  to  the  medical  ability,  tender  nursing  and  self-sacrificing 
devotedness  of  Father  Ravalli.  He  never  felt  more  happy  than 
when,  as  a  priest,  he  had  brought  some  rusty  old  sinner  to  make 
his  peace  with  God,  or  when,  as  a  physician,  and  after  journeying 
twenty,  sixty,  a  hundred  or  more  miles,  he  had  alleviated,  at  the 
cost  of  his  own  ease  and  comfort,  the  ills  of  some  fellow-being, 
irrespective  of  race,  condition  or  creed,  and  with  no  preference, 
except  for  such  as  were  poorest  or  the  greatest  sufferers. 

His  child-like  simplicity  could  not  but  endear  him  to  every- 
body; and,  while  intensely  affectionate,  he  was  no  less  sincere 
and  constant  in  his  affection.  To  a  pious  lady  who  had  asked 
him,  whether  during  the  many  years  he  had  spent  in  the  wilds 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  he  had  not  felt  some  desire  to  see  once 
more  his  native  country,  his  old  relatives  and  friends :  'Yes," 
said  he,  "and  I  could  have  had  that  pleasure.  But  then,"  con- 
tinued he,  "the  sacrifice  would  not  have  been  complete."  And 
lowering  his  head  over  his  breast,  he  wept  and  sobbed  like  a 

child.* 

It  was  while  returning  from  one  of  those  errands  of  mercy, 
just  referred  to,  that  he  himself  fell  sick  at  the  ranch  of  Mr. 
Thomas  Foley,  a  few  miles  from  Missoula.  No  father  or 
mother  could  have  bestowed  greater  care  on  a  son  than  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Foley  did  on  Father  Ravalli.  He  suffered  intensely  for 
over  two  months,  and,  at  one  time,  there  seemed  to  be  left  hardly 
a  thread  of  hope  for  his  recovery.  He  rallied,  but  his  constitu- 
tion never  regained  its  former  vigor  and  strength.  His  last 
sickness  continued  four  long  years,  Though  a  great  sufferer 
himself,  he  went  about  doing  good  to  all,  affording  comfort  and 
medical  assistance  almost  to  his  dying  day. 

Naturally  of  a  cheerful  and  happy  disposition,  his  conversation 
was  always  bright  and  pleasant,  and  many  a  witty  saying  of  his, 

♦The  lady  referred  to  was  Mrs.  Gibson,  the  wife  of  Col.  George  Gibson, 
U.  S.  A.,  the  Commanding  Officer  of  Fort  Missoula,  from  whom  the  writer 
learned  the  incident. 


76 


INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 


many  an  amusing  joke  and  story,  became  stock-in-trade  through- 
out the  country.  Father  Ravalli  was  tall  and  portly.  His  well- 
built  frame,  broad  forehead,  prominent  Roman  nose,  sharp 
features,  all  combined  to  render  his  appearance  peculiarly 
impressive.  In  the  opinion  of  those  who  knew  him,  he  should 
have  had  several  years  more  of  useful,  active  life,  but  God  willed 
otherwise. 


mmmx  r~- 


Chapter  XII. 

REMOVAL  OF  THE  FLAT  HEADS  TO  THE  JOCKO.      FOUNDERS  OF  THE 

MISSION.      SOME  NOTED  FLAT  HEADS — PAUL,  VICTOR,  AGNES, 

INSULA,    ALEE,    CHARLOT.       CHARLOT    AND    THE 

GARFIELD  TREATY. 

CROWDED  out  by  the  whites,  the  Flat  Heads  had  been 
gradually  leaving  the  Bitter  Root  Valley,  moving  on  to  the 
reservation  which  the  Government  set  aside  for  them  and  their 
confederated  tribes,  the  Pend  d'Oreilles,  Kalispels,  and  Koote- 
nays.  The  last  of  the  Flat  Heads  to  give  up  their  cherished 
homes  were  chief  Chariot  and  his  adherents,  who  finally  con- 
sented to  join  their  brethren  on  the  Jocko. 

Their  arrival  is  feelingly  described  by  Mrs.  P.  Ronan  in  a 
letter  to  her  sons  in  attendance  at  Gonzaga  College,  Spokane, 
Wash.,  and  published  in  the  Spokane  Review.  We  quote  the 
following: 

October  17,  1891,  witnessed  a  unique  and  to  some  minds  pathetic 
spectacle.  Chariot  and  his  band  of  Indians,  numbering  less  than 
two  hundred  souls,  marched  into  their  future  home,  the  Jocko  Reser- 
vation. Their  coming  had  been  heralded,  and  many  of  the  reserva- 
tion Indians  had  gathered  at  the  Agency  to  give  them  welcome.  When 
within  a  mile  of  the  Agency  church,  the  advancing  Indians  spread 
out,  forming  a  broad  column.  The  young  men  kept  constantly  dis- 
charging their  firearms,  while  a  few  of  the  number,  mounted  on  fleet 
ponies,  arrayed  in  phantastic  Indian  paraphernalia,  with  long  blankets 
partially  draping  the  forms  of  the  warriors  and  steeds,  rode  back  and 
forth  in  front  of  the  advancing  caravan,  shouting  and  firing  their 
guns  until  they  neared  the  church,  where  a  large  banner  of  the  Sacred 
Hearts  of  Jesus  and  Mary  was  erected  on  a  tall  pole.  Near  the 
sacred  emblem  stood  a  valiant  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Rev.  Ph. 
Canestrelli,  S.  J.  With  outstretched  hands  the  good  priest  blessed 
and  welcomed  the  forlorn-looking  pilgrims.  Chief  Chariot's  coun- 
tenance retained  its  habitual  expression  of  stubborn  pride  and  gloom, 
as  he  advanced  on  foot,  shaking  hands  with  all  who  had  come  to 
greet  him.     After  the  general  handshaking  was  over,  all  assembled 


78         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

in  the  Agency  chapel  for  the  Benediction  of  the  Most  Holy  Sacra- 
ment. The  0  salutaris  and  Tantum  ergo,  chanted  by  those  untutored 
children  of  the  forest,  told  better  than  any  other  words  could  of  the 
patient  teachings  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers  Every  word  of  the  beautiful 
Latin  verses  sounded  as  distinct  as  if  coming  from  cultivated  voices. 
If  the  poor  creatures  reflected  on  the  meaning  of  the  words : 

Bella  premunt  host  ilia, 
Da  robur,  fer  auxilium, 

they  must  have  felt  that  the  touching  sentiment  truly  expressed  the 
feeling  of  their  hearts.  After  the  Benediction  the  good  and  learned 
Father  Canestrelli,  who  has  spent  many  years  laboring  among  the 
Indians,  striving  to  enlighten  their  minds  and  purify  their  hearts, 
addressed  them  in  their  own  language,  the  Kalispel.  The  good  words 
seemed  to  console  and  comfort  them,  if  the  peaceful  expression  of 
their  countenances  indexed  aright  their  minds. 

This  event  concludes  the  narrative  of  St.  Mary's,  as  an 
Indian  Mission,  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  its  foundation  coin- 
ciding with  the  closing  year  of  its  existence.  But  though  St. 
Mary's  is  no  longer  an  Indian  Mission,  precious  memories  of 
virtuous  and  noble  deeds,  tinged  with  a  halo  of  romance,  will 
ever  cling  to  its  name  and  hallow  that  favored  spot. 

Let  us  add  a  word  about  its  founders  and  of  some  of  the 
more  noted  Flat  Heads. 

Father  De  Smet's  extraordinary  zeal  and  labors  among  the 
Indians  throughout  the  whole  Northwest  are  too  universally 
known  to  call  for  any  recounting.  To  this  day  there  is  not  a 
tribe  of  Indians  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  that  does  not  point 
with  a  feeling  of  pride  to  some  of  its  members  who  received  the 
waters  of  regeneration  at  the  hands  of  "the  great  Black  Robe," 
as  they  were  wont  to  call  him.  He  departed  this  life  at  St.  Louis, 
Mo.,  May  23,  1873,  and  his  remains  rest  on  the  banks  of  the 
Mississippi.  His  monument,  as  the  pioneer  and  apostle  of 
Christianity  and  civilization  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  is  in  his 
native  city,  in  far-off  Belgium;  while  here  among  us  a  station 
along  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway  bears  his  name.  But  it  is 
fair  to  hope  that  Montana,  the  part  of  the  Northwest  which  is, 
perhaps,  the  most  indebted  to  him,  will  one  day  out  of  practical 
gratitude  create  a  worthy  remembrance  of  her  great  benefactor. 

Father  G.  Mengarini,  co-founder  of  St.  Mary's  with  Father 
De  Smet,  labored  ten  years  among  the  Flat  Heads,  and  mastered 


REMOVAL  OF  THE  FLAT  HEADS  TO   THE  JOCKO  79 

the  rich,  but  difficult  Selish  or  Kalispel  language  so  thoroughly 
that  the  Indians  could  not  tell  him  from  one  of  themselves  by 
his  speech.  It  is  said,  in  fact,  that  time  and  again  he  played  on 
them  the  innocent  trick  of  passing  himself  as  one  of  their  tribe 
without  being  detected.  He  composed  a  Selish  Grammar,  which 
was  published  in  New  York  in  1861,  as  one  of  a  series  of  Indian 
studies  edited  by  the  distinguished  historian,  J.  Gilmary  Shea.* 

Father  Mengarini  prepared  also  an  Indian-English  Dictionary 
of  the  same  language,  to  which  due  reference  will  be  made  when 
speaking  of  St.  Ignatius,  where  it  was  printed.  In  1850  he  was 
called  by  the  Superiors  to  California,  and  though  so  far  removed 
from  the  scene  of  his  first  missionary  labors,  his  heart  seems  to 
have  remained  with  the  tribe  which  he  helped  to  Christianize,  and 
to  whom  he  yearned  to  return.  He  died  September  23,  1886,  at 
Santa  Clara. 

Father  N.  Point,  the  other  co-founder  of  the  Flat  Head 
Mission,  besides  the  qualities  of  an  excellent  missionary,  had 
considerable  talent  and  skill  as  an  artist,  and  he  used  this  gift 
to  gain  the  heart  and  good  will  of  the  Indians  by  painting  their 
portraits.  In  1846  he  visited  the  country  of  the  Blackfeet,  where 
he  spent  the  winter,  as  will  be  related  more  in  detail  in  the  history 
of  St.  Peter's  Mission.  Unfortunately  for  the  Indians,  he  was 
recalled  by  his  Superiors  to  the  Missions  of  Upper  Canada, 
where  he  continued  to  labor  with  zeal  and  success  for  several 
years.    He  went  to  his  rest  at  Quebec,  July  4,  1868. 

Of  the  Coadjutor  Brothers,  co-founders  of  St.  Mary's,  we 
shall  mention  only  two,  Wm.  Claessens  and  Joseph  Specht,  whose 
missionary  lives  were  spent  mostly  in  Montana.  They  were  both 
expert  mechanics,  the  former  a  carpenter,  the  latter  a  blacksmith, 
and  their  manual  services  in  behalf  of  this  and  other  Missions 
have  been  invaluable.  Brother  Joseph  Specht  died  at  St. 
Ignatius,  June  17,  1884,  full  of  years  and  merits.  Of  the 
seventy-six  years  of  his1  life,  forty  were  spent  on  the  Indian 
Missions  in  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

Brother  Wm.  Claessens  is  still  living  and  resides  at  Santa 
Clara,  Cal.,  where  he  was  called  by  the  Superior  some  two  years 

*  An  article  headed,  "The  Catholic  Church  in  Montana,"  and  first  published 
in  the  Helena  Herald,  January  1,  1880,  contained  an  oversight  which  made 
us  attribute  the  publication  of  the  Grammar  in  question  to  the  Smithsonian 
Institute,  Washington,  D.  C.     We  take  this  opportunity  to  correct  the  error. 


80         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

ago,  to  rest  from  his  long,  laborious  life  on  these  Missions.  The 
plucky  veteran  is  now  in  his  eightieth  year.  He  corresponds 
occasionally  with  the  writer,  and  the  one  wish  expressed  in  all 
his  letters  is  that  he  may  be  allowed  to  return  and  end  his  days 
where  he  spent  the  most  of  his  life,  that  is,  on  the  Indian  Missions 
in  Montana.* 

Among  the  noted  members  of  the  Selish  or  Flat  Head  nation, 
the  first  one  to  be  mentioned  is  Paul,  or  Big  Face,  his  name  in 
Indian,  on  account  of  his  somewhat  elongated  visage,  but  who, 
says  Father  De  Smet,  "might  more  nobly  and  more  appropri- 
ately be  named  the  Nestor  of  the  Desert ;  for  as  well  in  years  as 
in  sagacity  he  has  all  the  essentials  of  greatness." 

He  was  left  a  helpless  orphan  by  the  death  of  his  mother,  and, 
according  to  the  inhuman  custom  followed  in  such  cases,  he 
would  have  been  buried  with  her  in  the  same  grave  but  for  a 
good-hearted  young  woman  who  took  pity  on  the  poor  child 
and  offered  to  take  care  of  him  and  bring  him  up  as  if  he  had 
been  her  own.  God  rewarded  her  humanity  in  that  she  saw  her 
adopted  son  become  distinguished  above  all  his  fellows  by  intelli- 
gence, gentleness  and  every  good  disposition,  being  brave,  docile, 
unselfish  and  inclined  to  piety;  so  much  so  that  he  became  the 
head  chief  of  the  whole  nation. 

It  was  he  who  welcomed  Father  De  Smet  on  his  first  visit  to 
the  Flat  Heads,  as  we  related  in  a  former  chapter,  and  addressed 
him  on  that,  and  other  occasions,  in  words  which  were  full  of 
wisdom  and  practical  common  sense.  He  was  the  first  of  the  tribe 
to  be  baptized,  being  at  the  time  nearly  eighty,  and  receiving  the 
name  of  Paul. 

On  the  day  of  his  baptism  he  said  to  Father  De  Smet:  "If, 
during  my  life,  I  have  committed  faults,  they  were  those  of 
ignorance ;  it  appears  to  me,  that  I  never  did  anything  knowing 
it  to  be  wrong."  At  the  time  of  his  first  Communion,  having 
been  asked  if  he  had  not  some  faults  to  reproach  himself  with 
since  he  had  been  baptized ;  "Faults !"  he  replied,  with  surprise : 
"how  could  I  commit  any,  I  whose  duty  it  is  to  teach  others  how 
to  do  good?"    Would  that  every  educated  Christian  were  always 

*  Since  writing  the  above,  we  have  received  the  sad  news  of  Bro.  Claessen's 
death,  at  Santa  Clara,  Cal.,  October  n,  1891,  just  a  week  after  the  good 
Brother  had  celebrated  the  Golden  Jubilee  of  his  missionary  life.  May  he 
and  all  his  departed  confreres  rest  in  peace. 


REMOVAL  OF   THE  FLAT  HEADS   TO   THE  JOCKO  81 

as  upright  and  as  conscientious  as  this  untaught  savage  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains ! 

The  next  Flat  Head  deserving  special  mention  is  Victor, 
modified  into  Mitt'to  by  the  Indians.*  He  was  Paul's  successor, 
and  of  him  Father  De  Smet  could  write:  "This  good  chief 
walks  faithfully  in  the  footsteps  of  his  predecessor,  which  is  no 
small  praise." 

A  suavity  and  dignified  simplicity  of  manners,  together  with 
bravery  and  courage,  were  combined  in  Victor  in  no  ordinary 
degree,  and  gained  him  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the  whole 
tribe,  whose  leader  he  was  for  nearly  fifty  years.  Toward  the 
latter  part  of  his  long  career  he  became  well  known  also  to  the 
whites,  who  were  now  coming  in  large  numbers  into  Montana, 
and  whose  good  will  went  out  to  him  from  every  mining  camp. 

He  was  baptized  by  Father  De  Smet  who,  even  late  in  after 
years,  as  he  tells  us,  would  recall  with  the  deepest  emotion  the 
happiness  which  Victor  manifested  on  that  solemn  occasion.  He 
was  taken  off  in  the  summer  of  1870  while  on  the  hunt.  Not 
only  his  people,  but  the  whites  also  lamented  his  loss,  Montana 
papers  announcing  and  commenting  upon  his  death  as  a  public 
calamity.  His  remains  rest  at  St.  Mary's  among  his  brethren 
gone  before  him. 

On  hearing  of  his  death,  Captain  John  Mullan,  an  old-time 
friend  of  the  Flat  Heads,  sent  to  the  tribe  a  letter  of  condolence, 
from  which  we  quote  the  following: 

Your  friend,  Captain  Mullan,  has  learned  with  great  sadness  the 
loss  which  you  have  sustained  in  the  death  of  your  great  and  good 
chief,  Victor.  As  the  long-tried  friend  of  the  white  man,  Victor  had 
no  superior  among  the  red  men  of  America.  Mild  and  gentle  as  a 
woman,  and  innocent  of  wrong  as  a  child,  he  commanded  his  people 
for  near  half  a  century.  Your  friend  while  residing  among  your 
people  knew  Victor  well.  He  has  eaten  and  slept  and  smoked  at  his 
campfires;  traveled  with  him  to  the  hunt;  has  seen  him  help  the 
widow  and  the  orphan  of  the  tribe,  and  go  in  person  on  missions  of 
peace  to  the  Blackfeet,  to  the  Crows,  to  the  Sioux,  and  to  the  Ban- 
nocks, endeavoring  to  retain  with  them  friendly  relations.    Brave  in 

♦For  this  and  other  modifications  of  names  in  the  Flat  Head  or  Selish 
languages,  see  Chapter  I. 


82         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

battle  and  generous  in  peace,  he  has  set  an  example  worthy  of  imi- 
tation to  all  Indian  tribes. 

This  tribute  to  the  memory  of  Victor,  says  Father  De  Smet,  is 
highly  deserved  by  the  chief  of  the  Flat  Heads ;  "I  am  happy  to 
subscribe  to  it  fully  and  bear  him  testimony.  I  have  been  inti- 
mately acquainted  with  Victor  for  years  in  my  visits  to  the 
Rocky  Mountain  Missions." 

On  one  occasion  Father  De  Smet  in  speaking  to  the  Indians 
was  telling  them  how  wicked  and  impious  men  persecuted  the 
Church,  and  in  many  ways  reviled  the  Holy  Father,  our  Lord's 
Vicar  on  earth.  At  this,  Victor  hastily  rose,  full  of  animation, 
and  said:  "Should  our  Great  Father,  the  Great  Chief  of  the 
Black  Robes,  be  in  danger — you  speak  on  paper — invite  him  in 
our  name  to  our  mountains.  We  will  raise  his  lodge  in  our 
midst;  we  will  hunt  for  him  and  keep  his  lodge  provided,  and 
we  will  guard  him  against  the  approach  of  his  enemies."  This 
little  incident,  vouched  for  by  Father  De  Smet,  is  enough  to 
show  Victor's  true  character,  his  filial  and  religious  affection,  no 
less  than  the  generosity  and  bravery  of  his  heart. 

The  incident  brought  no  little  pleasure  to  Gregory  XVI,  who 
smiled  on  hearing  it  from  Father  De  Smet,  and  sent  to  the  Flat 
Head  chief  and  all  his  people  the  Apostolic  Benediction. 

Victor's  second  wife  was  a  woman  of  excellent  parts,  clever, 
industrious,  and  an  example  of  true  Christian  piety  to  all  the 
women  of  the  tribe.  Though  there  always  appeared  about  her 
a  little  something  of  neatness  not  seen  in  any  of  the  other  women, 
still,  in  her  poor  Indian  garb,  from  the  blanket  or  shawl  over 
her  head  down  to  her  moccasined  toes,  she  looked  only  a  plain, 
simple  squaw.  Her  manners,  however,  revealed  her  for  the 
gifted  woman  she  really  was,  dignified,  sensible,  tactful,  and  not 
only  polite,  but  remarkably  refined.  "Lo!  there  goes  the  queen, 
there  goes  the  princess!"  time  and  again  fell  on  our  ears, 
whispered  by  groups  of  young  folk — and  older  ones,  too — who 
would  stop  and  look  at  Agnes  admiringly  when,  all  unconscious 
of  being  noticed,  she  happened  to  pass  through  town  with  her 
people,  or  when  she  visited  the  Sisters  at  Missoula  or  Helena. 

Agnes  survived  Victor  by  several  years,  and  while  we  often 
thought  that  either  could  have  graced  a  royal  throne,  we  feel 


REMOVAL  OF  THE  FLAT  HEADS  TO   THE  JOCKO  83 

confident  that  they  have  both  attained  to  one.  It  was  their  happy 
lot  to  serve  God  loyally ;  and  does  not  God  make  real  sovereigns 
of  His  faithful  servants?* 

"The  Little  Chief  and  Great  Warrior,"  as  he  was  called, 
owing  to  his  bravery  and  small  stature,  is  another  Flat  Head 
who  is  entitled  to  special  mention;  for  he  was  a  conspicuous 
example  of  the  power  of  religion  in  developing  the  most  amiable 
virtues  in  the  fiercest  savage. 

According  to  the  testimony  of  the  Fathers,  Insula  united  in 
his  person  great  bravery  with  the  gentlest  manners  and  tender 
piety.  He  was  known  to  friend  and  foe  by  the  red  feather  he 
used  to  wear  and  his  approach  was  enough  to  put  to  flight  the 
prowling  bands  of  Bannacks,  Blackfeet  and  Crows  that  fre- 
quently infested  the  Flat  Head  country.  He  was  also  well 
known  and  esteemed  by  the  whites  as  a  man  of  sound  judgment, 
strict  integrity,  and  one  on  whose  fidelity  they  could  rely. 

If  our  Flat  Heads  escaped  being  contaminated  by  heresy,  it 
was  due  in  great  measure  to  his  adroitness  and  firmness.  He 
it  was  who,  in  the  belief  that  they  were  the  long-expected  Black 
Robes,  went  to  meet  the  Rev.  Samuel  Parker  and  Dr.  Whitman 
at  Green  River,  while  the  reverend  gentlemen  were  on  their  way 
precisely  to  bring  the  Gospel  to  the  Flat  Heads.  No  sooner  did 
Insula  discover  that  they  were  not  Catholic  missionaries  than 
he  gave  them  plainly  to  understand  that  his  people  did  not  want 
them,  and  bade  them  go  bring  their  gospel  to  some  other  tribe. 

"Our  little  chief,"  wrote  Father  Hoecken  of  Insula,  "pre- 
served his  first  fervor  of  faith  and  devotion  to  his  death,  and  one 
could  hardly  enter  his  wigwam  in  the  morning  or  the  evening 
without  finding  him  with  his  Rosary  in  his  hands  absorbed  in 
prayer." 

With  Michael  Insula  might  also  be  mentioned  Atol,  that  is, 
Adolph;  Amelo,  or  Ambrose;  Phidel  Teltella,  or  the  Thunder, 

*  Not  a  few  have  confounded  our  Victor,  the  Flat  Head  chief,  with  Victor, 
the  chief  of  the  Kalispels.  Besides  being  contemporaries,  both  were  remark- 
able men.  With  the  Indians  the  former  was  Mitt'to,  the  latter,  Pitol,  the 
two  words  being  accidental  variations  of  the  name  Victor.  The  whites  were 
often  led  into  error,  and  either  made  one  chief  of  the  two,  giving  to  but  one 
what  belonged  to  two  different  persons,  or  ascribing  to  one  what  should 
have  been  ascribed  to  the  other;  creating  thus  considerable  confusion  at  the 
expense  of  truth  and  historical  accuracy. 


84         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 


who  were  all  men  of  influence  and  character,  and  much  respected 
by  both  their  fellow-Indians  and  the  whites. 

The  last  war  chief  of  the  tribe  was  Alee,  changed  into  Arlee 
by  the  whites,  and  he  died  at  his  ranch  near  the  Agency,  August 
8,  1889.  His  death-bed  was  surrounded  by  his  relatives,  several 
of  his  Indian  friends,  and  some  whites,  among  the  latter  being 
the  Agent,  Major  P.  Ronan  with  Mrs.  Ronan,  his  wife;  Dr. 
Dade,  the  Agency  physician,  and  some  other  attached  to  the 
Agency.  The  Sunday  before  he  died,  the  old  chief  had  been 
visited  by  the  Ordinary,  the  Right  Rev.  J.  B.  Brondel ;  and  all 
the  rites  of  the  Church  were  administered  to  him  by  Father 
D'Aste,  the  Superior  of  the  Mission. 


ssfi?'  wasp; -J    />>{: 


War  Chief  Alee. 

Alee  had  been  baptized  in  youth  by  Father  De  Smet,  and 
though  a  Nez  Perce  by  parentage,  had  lived  most  of  his  life 
among  the  Flat  Heads,  as  one  of  the  tribe.  He  was  a  man  of 
rather  difficult  disposition,  and  retained  to  his  last  breath  more 
than  one  forbidding  trait  of  his  Indian  nature.  His  remains 
were  laid  to  rest  near  the  little  church  at  the  Agency,  and  the 


REMOVAL  OF  THE  FLAT  HEADS  TO   THE  JOCKO  85 

railway  station,  a  short  distance  off,  has  been  named  Arlee,  after 
him.* 

Alee  had  accepted  the  terms  of  the  Garfield  Treaty,  of  which 
we  shall  speak  a  little  further  on,  and  was,  in  consequence, 
appointed,  by  the  Department,  chief  of  those  Flat  Heads  who, 
because  of  that  unsavory  treaty,  had  consented  to  move  to  the 
Jocko.  But  to  the  day  of  his  death  he  was  never  spoken  to,  and 
still  less  recognized  by  Chariot.  The  Right  Rev.  Bishop  O'Con- 
nor speaks  as  follows  of  this  noted  Indian :  "Alee  or  Red  Night, 
the  name  he  went  by  in  the  tribe,  a  n^ble-looking  man,  wore  a 
white  Kossuth  hat  and  a  blue  blanket,  and  an  eagle's  wing  hung 
at  his  girdle.  Obesity  had  taken  all  the  grace  from  his  figure, 
but  I  thought  I  had  never  seen  a  finer  head  or  face  than  his.  I 
could  hardly  take  my  eyes  off  him." 

It  may  be  well  to  note  here  that  an  eagle's  wing  or  feather 
has  ever  been  the  emblem  of  an  Indian  warrior  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  We  never  saw  Alee  without  this  emblem  in  his 
hand,  or  hanging  from  his  girdle. 

The  last  Flat  Head  calling  for  special  mention  is  Chariot,  the 
son  of  Victor — but  not  of  Agnes,  who  was  only  his  stepmother — 
and  at  present  hereditary  chief  of  the  nation.  He  is  a  man  of  a 
quiet  yet  firm  disposition,  a  true  representative  of  his  race  and 
a  thorough   Indian. 

His  conduct  during  the  Nez  Perces  outbreak  gained  him  the 
admiration  of  all,  and  proved  once  more  the  loyal  friendship 
for  the  whites  on  the  part  of  the  Flat  Heads  who  have  always 
claimed  that  none  of  their  people  ever  spilled  a  drop  of  any 
white  man's  blood.  When  Joseph,  the  Nez  Perces  chief,  came 
into  the  Bitter  Valley  on  his  raid  and  sought  an  interview 
with  Chariot,  the  latter  not  only  refused  to  see  him,  but  sent 
him  word  to  beware  of  molesting  any  settler  in  that  vicinity, 
and  to  leave  the  valley  at  once.  Neither  would  he  accept  the 
proffered  hand  of  Looking  Glass,  because,  as  Chariot  put  it, 
"the  blood  of  the  white  man  was  upon  it." 

But  while  friendly  toward  the  whites,  he  surely  is  not  in  love 
with  their  ways.     His  aversion,  in  fact,  to  any  of  his  people 

*The  Selish  or  Flat  Heads  having  no  "i,"  Alee  stands  with  them  for 
Henry,  as  this  word  is  pronounced  in  French  (Hanri).  The  whites  have 
added  the  "r"  to  the  Indian  name  and  made  it  Arlee. 


86         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST-PART  I 

adopting  the  manners  of  the  white  man  is  well  known,  and 
borders  at  times  on  the  unreasonable.  As  an  instance,  but  a 
short  time  ago,  he  intimated  to  the  Fathers  at  the  Mission  and 
to  the  Agent  that  none  of  the  boys  of  his  band  should  ever 
attend  school  if  they  were  to  be  shorn  of  their  long,  flowing 
hair.  Now,  good  will  toward  the  whites,  with  a  no  less  hearty 
dislike  of  their  ways  and  manners,  appear  almost  contradictory 
in  the  same  person.  Yet,  they  are  united  in  a  marked  degree  in 
Chariot,   and   constitute   a   peculiar   and   puzzling  trait   of   his 

character. 

Whence  the  anomaly  ?    The  reader  is  welcome  to  any  solution 
he  may  think  best;  but  to  our  mind,  the  explanation  is  neither 
difficult  nor  far  to  seek.    Chariot  is  a  sincere  and  practical  Chris- 
tian, and  as  such  he  knows  well  that  he  must  be  on  friendly 
terms  with  all  men,  irrespective  of  race  or  color.     Hence  his 
friendliness  toward  the  whites.     But  the  ill-usage  which  he  and 
his  people  have  suffered  for  years  at  the  hands  of  unscrupulous 
whites,  Government  officials  included,  has  forced  upon  him  the 
conviction  that  the  ways  of  the  white  man  are  "bad  medicine," 
that  is  to  say,   the  cause  of   most  baneful  effects,  which  the 
Indians,   on  account   of   their  simple   nature   and   helplessness, 
cannot  prevent.     The  white  man's  conduct  toward  his  redskin 
neighbor  has  been  only  too  often  the  product  of  heartless  con- 
tempt, dishonesty  and  inventive  rapacity.     Now,  Chariot,  though 
an  Indian  to  the  core,  is  endowed  with  a  remarkably  keen  sense 
of  what  is  just,  fair,  honest.     Can  anyone  wonder  at  his  dislike 
of  the  ways  and  manners  of  the  whites?   It  is  but  natural,  after 
all,  just  as  it  is  natural  for  a  horse  to  scent  live  bear  in  the  dead 
skin,  and  shy  at  it,  even  when  it  has  been  made  into  a  fancy 
lap-robe. 

What  above  all  scandalized  Chariot  and  utterly  disgusted  him 
with  the  white  man's  civilization  was  the  Garfield  Treaty  bear- 
ing the  date  of  August  27,  1872.* 

Hon.  James  A.  Garfield  was  appointed  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  a  Special  Commissioner  for  the  removal  of  the  Flat 
Head  Indians  from  the  Bitter  Root  Valley.  In  this  official 
capacity  and  accompanied  by  other  functionaries,  he  went  to  the 

*  See  the  Report  of  the  Commission  of  Indians  Affairs  for  the  year  1872— 
Papers  Accompanying  the  Report — pp.  109  to  117. 


REMOVAL  OF  THE  FLAT  HEADS   TO  THE  JOCKO  87 

Indians,  and  after  conferring  with  the  chiefs  and  other  leading 
men  of  the  tribe  drew  up  an  agreement  which  provided  for 
their  removal  to  the  Jocko  reservation. 

The  parties  to  the  agrement  were  specified  as  follows :  Articles 
of  agreement,  etc.,  between  James  A.  Garfield,  Special  Commis- 
sioner, etc.,  of  the  first  part,  and  Chariot,  first  chief,  Arlee,  sec- 
ond chief,  and  Adolf,  third  chief  of  the  Flat  Heads,  of  the  second 
part,  witnesseth:  Whereas,  etc.,  the  chiefs  or  parties  of  the 
second  part,  were  instructed  to  express  their  acceptance  or  non- 
acceptance  of  the  proposed  stipulations,  by  signing  or  declining 
to  sign  them. 

While  both  Arlee  and  Adolf  accepted  and  put  their  signatures 
to  the  agreement,  Chariot  refused  to  do  so.  Everyone  in  the 
assembly  was  an  eye-witness  of  his  refusal;  his  signature  is  not 
on  the  original  on  file  in  the  Department  of  the  Interior ;  neither 
did  it  appear  on  the  duplicate  left  with  the  Indians.  We  have, 
besides,  General  Garfield's  own  explicit  attestation  in  his  official 
report:  "Arlee  and  Adolf,  the  second  and  third  chiefs,  signed 
the  contract,  but  Chariot  refused  to  sign;"  they  are  his  words; 
we  simply  italicize  them. 

Such  being  the  fact,  would  it  not  seem  that  Chariot,  in  all 
fairness  and  justice,  should  have  been  dropped  and  his  name 
expunged  from  the  contract?  Yet,  the  instrument  as  published, 
as  sent  up  to  the  Senate  for  approval,  nay,  as  given  by  General 
Garfield  himself  in  his  report  to  the  Commissioner  of  Indian 
Affairs,  makes  Chariot  a  party  to  the  agreement,  and  shows, 
moreover,  his  supposed  signature  attached  to  it!  Were  it  not 
there  in  black  and  white,  we  could  never  believe  it.  Was  it 
a  case  of  forgery?    Who  will  say  that  it  was  not? 

In  extenuation  it  has  been  advanced  that  the  treaty  had  for 
its  object  the  real  good  of  the  Indians,  and  could  not  have  been 
carried  through  otherwise,  as  the  Senate  would  never  have  rati- 
fied it  without  the  signature  of  Chariot,  the  head  chief  of  the 
tribe.  Furthermore,  it  was  General  Garfield's  belief  that  Chariot 
would  come  round,  change  his  mind  and  accept  the  treaty,  as 
it  had  been  accepted  by  Arlee  and  Adolf.  That  he  so  believed 
is  manifest  from  a  letter  to  A.  J.  Viall,  Superintendent  of  Indian 
Affairs  for  Montana,  bearing  the  same  date  as  the  treaty,  and 
making  part  of  his  official  report,  in  which  he  says : 


88         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

In  carrying  out  the  terms  of  the  contract  made  with  the  chiefs  of 
the  Flat  Heads  for  removing  that  tribe  to  the  Reservation  (Jocko), 
I  have  concluded,  after  full  consultation  with  you,  to  proceed  with  the 
work  as  though  Chariot  had  signed  the  contract.  I  do  this  in  the 
belief  that  when  he  sees  the  work  actually  going  forward  he  will 
conclude  to  come  here  with  the  other  chiefs  and  keep  the  tribe 
unbroken. 

But  even  so,  did  the  supposed  good  of  the  Indians  and  the 
assumption  of  General  Garfield  that  Chariot  would  change  his 
mind,  warrant  the  affixing  of  the  latter 's  name  to  the  contract 
against  his  will  ?  Believers  in  the  modern,  but  iniquitous  theories 
of  accomplished  facts  and  in  the  doctrine  of  expediency  might 
admit  it.  But  was  the  action  fair,  honorable,  honest  from  the 
viewpoint  of  moral  rectitude?  Surely  not,  so  long  as  the  end 
does  not  justify  the  means,  and  so  long  as  a  man's  will,  even  an 
Indian's,  cannot  be  mortgaged. 

This  proceeding  was  naturally  viewed  by  Chariot  and  his 
people  as  a  deliberate  attempt  to  rob  them  of  their  homes  by 
falsehood  and  fraud.  The  impression  became  conviction  when 
the  Indian  Department,  instead  of  tearing  up  and  casting  to  the 
winds  the  fraudulent  document,  sought  to  enforce  it,  and  thus 
broke  up  the  tribe,  ignored  the  rights  of  Chariot,  as  head  and 
hereditary  chief  of  the  nation,  and  put  him  aside  for  Arlee. 

The  Indian  Department  at  Washington  seemed  to  be  under 
the  delusion  that  this  arbitrary  policy  would  finally  induce  Char- 
lot  and  his  people  to  move  to  the  Jocko,  leaving  their  present 
location  where,  hemmed  in  on  all  sides  by  the  whites,  they  were 
miserably  poor  and  starving.  But  on  a  mind  of  Chariot's  temper 
it  had  the  very  contrary  effect ;  it  only  added  to  his  exasperation 
and  bitterness  which,  in  turn,  made  him  the  more  obstinate,  and 
the  more  suspicious  of  the  Government  and  all  its  agents. 

Congress  sought  at  last  to  remedy  the  wrong  that  had  been 
done,  and  with  this  object  in  view  in  1883,  Senator  G.  G.  Vest 
and  the  Hon.  Martin  Maginniss,  Montana's  Delegate,  as  a  Sen- 
ate Subcommittee,  were  sent  to  look  into  the  grievances  of  those 
brave  but  unfortunate  Indians.* 

*  See  the  Report  of  the  Subcommittee  of  the  Special  Committee  of  the 
United  States  Senate,  Appointed  to  Visit  the  Indian  Tribes  in  Northwestern 
Montana. 


1 


.  .„'&■•-■<$  "la*  &         ^ 


Cheyenne  Family,  St.  Ignatius  Mission 


Chief  Charlot  and  Family 


Father  and  Sons,  St.  Ignatius  Mission 


REMOVAL  OF  THE  FLAT  HEADS  TO   THE  JOCKO  89 

As  appears  from  their  report,  Chariot  showed  himself  so 
distrustful  of  those  gentlemen  as  to  tell  them  bluntly  to  their 
faces  that  "he  had  no  confidence  in  their  promises,"  and  that 
"he  would  never  go  to  the  Jocko  alive." 

"We  entered  upon  an  interview,"  states  the  report,  "which  at 
times  was  very  dramatic  and  even  stormy."  "Your  Great  Father 
Garfield,"  said  Chariot,  "put  my  name  to  a  paper  which  I  never 
signed.  How  can  I  believe  you  or  any  white  man  after  the  way 
I  have  been  treated?"  And  here  the  members  of  the  Subcom- 
mittee declare :  "We  are  compelled  to  admit  that  there  was  much 
truth  and  justice  in  his  statement.  That  his  name  was  falsely 
published  to  the  Garfield  treaty  is  unfortunately  true  as  shown 
by  the  original."  They  further  express  themselves  as  follows: 
"Looking  at  all  the  circumstances,  the  removal  of  part  of  his 
tribe  without  his  consent,  ignoring  his  rights  as  head  chief,  and 
setting  him  aside  for  Arlee,  and  the  publication  of  his  name 
to  an  agreement  which  he  refused  to  sign,  we  cannot  blame 
him  for  distrust  and  resentment." 

On  the  strength  of  the  recommendations  made  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior  by  the  Subcommittee,  Chariot  was  called  to 
Washington,  it  being  hoped  that  personal  intercourse  would  lead 
to  more  satisfactory  results.  Generous  offers  were  now  made 
to  him  and  his  adherents,  if  they  would  only  consent  to  move 
over  to  the  Jocko.  But  nothing  could  shake  Chariot's  deter- 
mination. To  all  the  inducements  set  before  him,  his  only 
answer  was  "that  he  had  come  to  Washington  to  get  the  per- 
mission of  the  Great  Father  to  allow  him  to  remain  unmolested 
in  the  Bitter  Root  Valley,  the  home  of  his  father  and  the  land 
of  his  ancestors.  He  asked  no  assistance  from  the  Government ; 
all  he  wanted  was  the  poor  privilege  of  remaining  in  the  valley 
where  he  was  born,  and  where  the  dust  of  his  tribe  who  lived 
before  him  lay  mingling  with  the  earth.  If  any  of  his  people 
desired  to  accept  the  bounty  of  the  Government  and  move  to  the 
Jocko,  they  were  at  liberty  to  do  so,  and  he  would  offer  no 
objection.  But  it  was  his  own  individual,  personal  wish  to 
live  and  die  in  the  Bitter  Root  Valley." 

So  he  spoke,  as  we  learn  from  Major  P.  Ronan,  the  U.  S. 
Indian  Agent,  who  conducted  Chariot  and  his  companions  to 


9o         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

Washington,  and  was  present  at  the  conference  with  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior,  Hon.  H.  M.  Teller.* 

Evidently  Chariot's  earnest  pleading  was  not  without  effect, 
as  the  authorities  now  told  him  that  he  could  have  his  wish. 
No  better  course  could  have  been  adopted  by  the  administration, 
the  concession  being  attended  by  the  happiest  results.  It  at  once 
softened  the  bitter  resentment  that  had  been  rankling  in  Chariot's 
heart,  since  his  name  had  been  fraudulently  appended  to  the 
Garfield  treaty.  It  revived  his  and  his  people's  confidence  in 
the  sincerity  and  good  will  of  the  Government;  and  confidence 
once  restored,  it  would  not  be  long  before  he  and  his  followers 
would  consent  to  remove  to  the  Jocko  Valley,  as  the  better 
alternative  before  them  in  the  altered  condition  of  things.  So 
it  came  to  pass;  which  goes  to  show  that  a  timely  yielding  has 
persuasive  charms  and  winning  ways  of  its  own,  never  to  be 
found  in  high-handed,  arbitrary  measures. 

We  pass  now  to  the  Mission  of  St.  Ignatius,  the  second  Indian 
Mission  founded  in  Montana. 

*  See    Historical   Sketch    of    the    Flathead    Indian    Nation,   by    P.    Ronan : 
Journal  Publishing  Co.,  Helena,  Montana. 


Chapter  XIII. 

ST.  IGNATIUS  MISSION. 

THE  Mission  had  been  established  by  Father  De  Smet  and 
Father  Hoecken  on  the  banks  of  the  Pend  d'Oreille  River, 
not  far  from  the  shores  of  the  lake  of  the  same  name,  as  early 
as  1844.  The  location,  however,  proved  unfavorable,  it  having 
been  found  subject  to  inundation  at  the  melting  of  heavy  snow- 
falls in  the  mountains.  Furthermore,  a  better  knowledge  of 
the  country  led  the  missionaries  to  the  conclusion  that  a  more 
central  spot  with  regard  to  different  tribes  would  be  preferable. 
Consequently  at  the  request  of  the  Indians  themselves  the  Mis- 
sion was  removed  to  what  became  afterward  the  Flat  Head 
reservation,  its  present  site. 

This  was  the  country  of  the  upper  Pend  d'Oreilles,  as  well  as 
the  favorite  resort  of  other  tribes,  both  in  winter  and  summer, 
since  it  abounded  in  the  staples  of  Indian  life,  game,  fish,  roots 
and  berries,  and  furnished  the  best  grazing  for  their  ponies. 
The  site  had  been  pointed  out  to  the  Fathers  by  Alexander,  the 
chief  of  the  upper  Pend  d'Oreilles,  who  had  accompanied  Father 
De  Smet  time  and  again  through  the  mountains,  and  it  had  been 
determined  upon  by  them  a  couple  of  years  before  they  actually 
occupied  it.  "I  arrived  at  the  place,"  says  Father  Hoecken,  "on 
the  24th  of  September  (1844),  and  found  it  as  it  had  been  rep- 
resented, a  beautiful  region,  evidently  fertile,  uniting  a  useful 
as  well  as  a  pleasing  variety  of  woodland,  prairie,  lake  and  river." 

The  place  was  called  by  the  Indians  Sinielemen,  which  means 
meeting-place  or  rendezvous,  and  is  beyond  doubt  one  of  the 
finest,  if  not  the  very  finest  and  prettiest  spot  in  Montana. 

The  valley  is  from  ten  to  twelve  miles  wide,  and  runs  some 
thirty  miles  from  south  to  north.  It  is  bounded  on  the  east  by 
a  spur  of  the  main  range;  south  and  west  by  a  lower  ridge 
which,  starting  just  back  of  the  Mission  at  almost  a  right  angle, 
runs  some  ten  miles  west,  and  then,  turning  northward,  con- 
tinues in  almost  a  parallel  line  to  the  mountains  on  the  east 


92         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

side  of  the  valley.  At  its  northern  extremity  lies  Flat-Head 
Lake,  a  large  and  beautiful  sheet  of  water,  some  forty  miles 
in  length  and  about  ten  miles  wide,  dotted  with  picturesque 
islands. 

The  south  end  of  the  valley  is  but  six  miles  from  Ravalli,  a 
station  on  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway,  whence  it  is  easily 
reached  by  a  natural  opening  in  what  at  first  appears  a  barrier 
of  impassable  mountains.  The  Angels  and  the  Indians,  and 
they  alone,  knew  of  this  opening  and  of  its  leading  to  the 
charming  valley  beyond.  From  the  mouth  of  the  opening,  just 
wide  enough  for  a  team  to  pass,  a  wagon  road  of  easy  grade 
built  by  the  Fathers  winds  it  way  up  a  little  ravine,  now  to 
the  right,  now  to  the  left,  now  along  the  mountain  side.* 

As  the  road  ascends,  the  canyon  ahead  becomes  gradually 
wider.  A  climb  of  less  than  a  couple  of  miles  from  the  mouth 
of  the  little  ravine  brings  us  to  the  summit  of  the  low  divide 
between  the  Mission  and  the  Jocko,  whence,  looking  northward 
to  the  left,  the  first  glimpse  is  had  of  the  open  country:  while 
directly  in  front  appear  the  lofty  tops  of  the  Mission  Range 
which,  as  the  road  by  a  gradual  descent  advances  toward  it, 
rises  higher  and  higher  under  our  eyes. 

We  now  near  the  last  ridge  or  elevation  that  still  hides  from 
our  view  the  south  portion  of  the  valley,  and  as  we  reach  the 
top,  an  enchanting  panorama  and  soul-absorbing  sight  bursts 
upon  us.  The  scene  is  one  of  matchless  beauty  and  surpassing 
grandeur,  the  like  of  which  we  believe  is  not  to  be  seen  any- 
where  else  in  the  Northwest.  The  mountains  in  front  abruptly 
and  without  approaches  rise  like  a  wall,  and  in  all  their  might 
and  stupendous  magnificence  reach  up  into  the  sky  some  8,000 
feet  from  the  valley  below  and  this,  so  to  say,  at  one  leap.  We 
have  now  a  full  view  of  the  whole  valley,  and  also  of  the  moun- 
tains from  base  to  top.  These,  up  to  a  certain  height  are  covered 
with  grass;  then  with  a  belt  of  timber,  while  above  the  timber 
line  they  rise  into  rugged,  frowning  peaks  that  are  capped  with 
snow  almost  the  year  round.     Between  these  peaks  are  glaciers 

♦The  grade  here  described  has  been  replaced  since  by  a  new  one,  which 
runs  along  the  mountain  side,  south  of  the  former  and  a  little  higher  up; 
the  old  grade  having  been  partially  washed  away  by  waterspouts.  Its  mouth 
or  entrance,  besides,  is  now  barred  by  the  fence  of  Duncan  McDonald's  field 
and  orchard. 


ST.    IGNATIUS    MISSION  93 

and  perpetual  snows,  which  feed  a  number  of  ice-cold  and 
crystal  streams  that  irrigate  the  valley,  and  whose  meandering 
course  is  marked  by  fringes  of  deeper  green  and  more  luxuriant 
vegetation. 

The  two  highest,  forbidding  peaks  or  crests  in  front  are  the 
Twin  Sisters;  and  Elisabeth  Falls  is  the  name  of  the  white,  tape- 
like and  foamy  streak,  a  little  to  the  left  of  us.  They  were  so 
christened,  crests  and  falls,  by  General  Thomas  Francis  Meagher 
when  a  guest  at  the  Mission,  just  a  few  months  before  he  was 
engulfed  in  the  turbid  waters  of  the  Missouri  near  Fort  Benton. 
These  waterfalls  are  nearly  4,000  feet  high,  but  it  is  only  by 
going  near  them  at  the  head  of  the  canyon,  that  they  can  be 
seen  to  advantage. 

Lake  McDonald  and  St.  Mary's  Lake,  the  former  a  few 
miles  northeast  and  the  latter  a  little  farther  off  to  the  south- 
east of  the  Mission,  and  other  smaller  bodies  of  water,  in  so 
many  pocket-like  basins,  higher  up  in  the  mountains,  add  beauty 
and  romantic  variety  to  the  landscape,  which  cannot  fail,  as  the 
writer  believes,  to  become  ere  long  a  special  attraction  for  the 
tourist  and  the  lover  of  nature. 

The  Mission,  nestling  close  to  the  foot  of  the  huge,  bold 
mountains,  appears  almost  like  a  fairy-land  village,  and  is  indeed 
a  jewel,  whose  beauty  is  enhanced  by  the  setting. 

Fathers  Adrian  Hoecken  and  Joseph  Menetrey  picked  out  the 
site  and  erected  there  a  cabin.  Some  of  the  stock  was  moved 
thither  in  the  spring  of  the  following  year,  1854.  Brothers 
Claessens,  McGean  and  Specht  were  among  the  first  to  reach  the 
place. 

The  Mission  has  since  become  the  finest  institution  of  its  kind 
in  Montana.  Its  growth  has  been  gradual,  for  what  people 
now  admire  at  St.  Ignatius  is  the  result  of  half  a  century's 
hard  toil  on  the  part  of  the  missionaries.  And  by  what  is  now 
admired,  we  do  not  mean,  exactly,  the  stately  buildings  that 
replace  the  log  huts  of  former  days,  but  the  complex  of  all  that 
is  implied  in  the  transformation  of  wild,  roving  savages  into  a 
civilized,  industrious  and  fervent  Christian  community  such  as 
is  the  Mission  of  St.  Ignatius. 

Bless  the  souls  of  those  veracious  Indian  Agents  who,  as 
would  appear  from  their  official  reports,  have  civilized  whole 


94         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

tribes  of  redskins  during  a  couple  of  years'  residence  among 
them!  They  may  have  succeeded,  forsooth,  in  coaxing  some 
Indian  buck  to  crop  his  flowing  hair  and  put  on  a  pair  of 
trousers.  But  once  this  has  been  accomplished,  we  are  told  that 
the  natives  now  "wear  citizens'  clothes,"  and  are,  of  course, 
civilized;  since  with  Government  officials,  as  with  some  others, 
short  hair  and  breeches  are  the  chief  criterion  of  Indian  civiliza- 
tion. Accordingly,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  quality  and 
quantity  of  their  civilization  would  be  noticeably  increased  by  a 
pair  of  cuffs  and  a  white  collar. 

It  is  true  that  some  grievous  offences  against  life  and  morals 
have  been  committed  on  the  reservations  since  Christianity  was 
established  among  the  Indians.  But,  then,  it  is  also  true  that 
the  offences,  without  exception,  were  due  to  one  or  the  other 
of  the  following  causes :  first,  liquor  dealt  out  to  the  Indians  by 
greedy  and  unscrupulous  whites;  secondly,  remissness  and  mis- 
carriage of  justice  by  allowing  criminals  to  go  scot  free ;  thirdly, 
the  villainy  of  outlaws  from  other  tribes,  who  were  never  brought 
under  the  influence  of  religion  and  abused  the  hospitality  given 
them  within  the  reservation;  lastly,  atrocious  murders  of  peaceful 
and  innocent  Indians  by  white  people,  which  provoked  retalia- 
tion at  the  hands  of  some  relative  of  the  victims. 

We  instance  Pierre  Paul  and  his  three  companions  executed 
at  Missoula,  December  19,  1890.  Of  these  four  redskin  crim- 
inals, two,  Lalassi  and  Pierre  Paul  were  Spokanes ;  and  the  two 
others,  Pascal  and  his  accomplice,  were  Kootenays.  The  brother 
of  Lalassi  had  been  murdered  by  a  white  some  time  before; 
while  Pierre  Paul  counted  three  near  relatives,  his  father,  an 
uncle,  and  a  cousin,  all  murdered  in  a  few  years'  time  by  white 
people.  Both  he  and  Lalassi  became  desperate  outlaws,  with  a 
price  set  upon  their  heads.  Pascal's,  as  well  as  his  accomplice's 
crimes  were  likewise,  at  least  partially,  Indian  vendetta  for  the 
killing  of  the  chief's  son  and  others  of  their  tribe  by  whites. 
We  need  not  add  that  in  every  one  of  these  cases,  as  in  almost 
every  other  instance  of  Indian  lawlessness,  whether  within  or 
without  the  reservation,  firewater,  or  liquor,  was  never  wanting 
as  a  concomitant  or  antecedent,  to  incite  the  savage  to  the  evil 
deed. 

Still,  everything  considered,  we  are  ready  to  affirm  that  the 


ST.    IGNATIUS    MISSION  95 

Indians  of  the  Flat  Head  reservation,  through  the  teachings  and 
civilizing  influences  of  Christianity  have  today  a  record  for 
moral  conduct  that  compares  favorably  with  that  of  any  white 
community  of  equal  numbers. 

And  here  let  us  render  with  pleasure  a  well-deserved  meed 
of  praise  to  Major  P.  Ronan,  who  has  been  the  U.  S.  Agent 
in  charge  of  these  Indians  for  the  last  fourteen  years,  and  who 
by  his  faithful  and  efficient  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the 
Agency,  no  less  than  by  the  exemplary  conduct  of  his  family, 
has  done  much  toward  promoting  the  welfare  of  his  charges, 
and  toward  bringing  about  some  of  the  happy  results  referred 
to  above. 

But  it  is  time  to  enter  more  particularly  into  our  subject  and 
detail  the  history  of  the  Mission  and  its  progress. 

Father  A.  Hoecken  said  the  first  Mass  in  the  open  air  in  the 
presence  of  a  large  number  of  Upper  and  Lower  Kalispels.  In 
a  few  weeks,  several  structures  were  erected,  a  chapel,  two  small 
houses,  together  with  two  shops,  one  for  blacksmithing,  the 
other  for  carpentry  work,  wigwams  springing  up  at  the  same 
time  all  around  in  considerable  number.  About  Easter,  over 
one  thousand  Indians  of  different  tribes,  Upper  Kootenays,  Flat 
Bows,  Pend  d'Oreilles,  Kalispels  and  Flat  Heads  had  arrived  to 
make  their  permanent  home  at  the  new  Mission,  or  in  its  imme- 
diate vicinity.  Some  18,000  rails  were  cut  and  split  during  the 
winter  under  the  direction  of  good  Brother  McGean,  and  by 
early  spring  a  large  field  was  fenced  in  and  put  under  cultivation. 

Lieut.  John  Mullan,  who  was  engaged  at  this  period  in  explor- 
ing the  Bitter  Root  Valley  and  contiguous  country,  lent  some 
assistance  to  the  Fathers  in  starting  the  Mission.  "I  know  not," 
wrote  Father  Hoecken  to  Father  De  Smet,  October  18,  1855, 
"how  to  acquit  the  debt  of  gratitude  I  owe  to  this  excellent 
officer.  I  can  only  pray,  poor  missionary  as  I  am,  that  the  Lord 
may  repay  his  generosity  and  kindness  a  hundredfold  in  bless- 
ings of  time  and  eternity." 

In  the  summer  of  the  same  year,  1855,  a  great  Indian  Coun- 
cil was  held  at  Hell's  Gate,  a  few  miles  below  the  present  site 
of  Missoula.  A  treaty  was  here  made  between  the  United  States, 
represented  by  Governor  Isaac  J.  Stevens,  and  Victor,  the  chief 
of  the  Flat  Heads,  and  the  chiefs  of  the  Pend  d'Oreilles,  and 


96         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

the  Kootenays  who  dwell  in  the  vicinity  of  Flat  Head  Lake. 
By  this  treaty  the  present  reservation  was  carved  out  and  set 
apart  for  the  exclusive  occupancy  of  these  Indians,  designated 
in  the  contract  as  "The  Confederated  Tribes  of  Flat  Heads, 
Pend  d'Oreilles  and  Kootenays."  All  the  rest  of  the  large 
territory,  which  the  Indians  claimed  as  their  own,  and  which 
extended  from  near  the  forty-second  parallel  to  the  British  line, 
with  an  average  breadth  of  two  degrees  of  latitude,  was  ceded 
to  the  United  States. 

Chief  Victor,  however,  and  his  whole  nation  opposed  such  a 
contract  and  would  not  consent  to  it,  unless  they  could  remain 
in  the  Bitter  Root  Valley,  the  home  of  their  tribe  from  time 
immemorial.  Accordingly  a  special  clause  had  to  be  inserted 
in  the  treaty  to  this  effect,  and  then  Chief  Victor  and  the  other 
leading  men  of  the  tribe  accepted  and  signed  the  treaty. 

Be  it  noted,  however,  that  the  concession  made  in  favor  of 
the  Flat  Heads  was  conditional;  in  other  words,  it  authorized 
them  to  occupy  the  Bitter  Root  Valley  so  long  as  the  Govern- 
ment did  not  require  them  to  move  to  the  general  reservation  on 
the  Jocko.  Consequently,  the  clause  referred  to  by  the  condition 
attached  to  it,  took  from  the  Flat  Heads  far  more  than  it  gave 
them:  it  deprived  them  of  the  right  to  hold  their  land  in  per- 
petuity, whilst  it  empowered  them  to  occupy  it  conditionally  for 
the  time  being.  It  seems  certain  that  the  full  meaning  of  the 
clause  was  not  understood  by  the  Flat  Heads.  Hence  the  subse- 
quent difficulties  with  regard  to  the  matter,  which  are  touched 
upon   elsewhere  in  this  narrative. 

At  the  special  request  of  Governor  Stevens,  Father  Hoecken 
assisted  at  the  Council  and  his  signature  appears  on  the  docu- 
ment. He  also  attended  the  council  held  with  the  northern 
tribes  shortly  after. 

By  some  of  the  stipulations  of  the  Hell's  Gate  Treaty,  the 
Indians  were  to  have  school  teachers,  a  blacksmith,  a  carpenter, 
etc.,  and  the  Fathers  and  brothers  at  the  Mission  were  instructed 
to  carry  out,  in  the  name  of  the  Government,  this  part  of  the 
agreement.  They  did  so  cheerfully,  and  continued  to  do  the 
same  for  a  long  time ;  but  theirs  was  only  the  privilege  of  doing 
the  work,  whilst  remuneration  seemed  to  be  entirely  lost  sight 
of,  or  stranded  on  the  way.     "We  have  done  and  shall  continue 


Brother  William  Claessens,  S.J. 


'4  Ms 


Sit 


Saw  Mill  and  Grist  Mill,  St.  Ignatius  Mission 


ST.    IGNATKS   MISSION  97 

to  do  all  in  our  power  for  the  Government  officers,"  wrote 
Father  Hoecken  to  Father  De  Smet;  "our  brothers  assist  the 
Indians  and  teach  them  how  to  cultivate  the  ground ;  our  black- 
smith works  for  them;  he  repairs  their  guns,  their  knives,  and 
their  axes;  the  carpenter  renders  them  great  assistance  in  con- 
structing their  houses,  by  making  the  doors  and  windows;  in 
a  word,  all  we  have  and  all  we  are  is  sacrificed  to  their  welfare. 
Still,  our  poor  Mission  has  never  received  a  farthing  from  the 
Government." 

The  school  provided  for  in  the  treaty  was  also  started  by 
Father  Hoecken,  but  it  had  to  be  shut  down  soon  after,  for  want 
of  means.  The  funds  promised  for  the  purpose  by  the  Govern- 
ment were  not  forthcoming,  and  not  until  eight  years  after 
could  the  Mission  succeed  in  supporting  a  small  school  entirely 
at  its  own  expense. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1856,  the  Indian  tribes  along  the  lower 
Columbia,  making  common  cause  with  the  Indians  of  Northern 
California,  broke  out  into  open  warfare  against  the  whites. 
This  was  a  critical  period  for  all  the  Indian  Missions  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  The  unrest  among  the  natives  became  gen- 
eral, the  northern  Indian  sympathizing  with  his  brethren  in 
the  lower  country.  "I  fear  a  general  uprising  among  the  Indians 
toward  the  commencement  of  spring,"  Father  Ravalli  wrote  to 
his  Superior.  And  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  but  for  religion, 
which  exercised  a  restraining  influence  over  our  Indians,  the 
dreaded  uprising  with  all  its  attendant  horrors  would  have 
become  a  stern  reality. 

But  while  the  lower  country  was  filled  with  wars  and  rumors 
of  war,  everything  remained  quiet  at  St.  Ignatius,  where  Father 
Hoecken  and  his  companions  were  proceeding  in  their  peaceful 
work  of  improving  the  Mission.  Father  N.  Congiato,  the  gen- 
eral Superior,  who  visited  St.  Ignatius  in  the  summer  of  1856, 
wrote  of  Father  Hoecken :  "He  does  the  work  of  several  men 
and  has  succeeded  in  uniting  together  three  nations  under  his 
spiritual  jurisdiction." 

As  to  material  improvements,  we  may  first  mention  the  erec- 
tion of  a  flour  mill,  the  stones  or  buhrs  being  quarried  from 
native  rock,  the  same  hands  that  cut  the  stones  making  the  tools 
to  cut  them  with.    Together  with  the  flour  mill,  a  whipsaw  mill 


98         INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

was  also  constructed,  the  power  for  both  plants  being  obtained 
from  the  stream  close  by,  through  a  race  over  one  thousand 
feet  long  and  five  feet  wide,  made,  bottom  and  sides,  of  hewn 
tamarack  timbers. 

Both  mills  were  afterward  enlarged  and  improved  by  the 
writer,  and  a  dam  thrown  across  the  stream  higher  up,  as  well 
as  a  new  race  dug  along  the  bank,  gave  to  the  Mission  the 
present  valuable  water  power.  Both  plants  were  still  further 
improved  at  a  later  date  by  Father  L.  Van  Gorp,  who  remodeled 
and  almost  entirely  renewed  them,  equipping  them,  besides,  with 
up-to-date  machinery. 

The  whipsaw  mill,  though  of  limited  capacity,  furnished  all 
the  material  for  the  construction  of  the  large  church  40  by  100 
feet  with  belfry  over  100  feet  high — a  real  marvel — if  we  con- 
sider the  scantiness  of  means  at  hand  for  its  construction.  The 
structure,  frame,  roof  and  all,  was  held  together  by  wooden  pins, 
nails  in  those  days  being  still  out  of  reach,  and  if  obtainable, 
their  cost  would  have  been  prohibitive.*  The  columns  of  the 
nave,  six  on  each  side,  were  solid  timbers,  18  inches  in  diameter 
and  15  feet  high,  and  were  turned  by  hand,  the  power  being 
furnished  by  the  strong  arms  of  stalwart  Indians.  In  this 
church  there  was  a  life-size  crucifix  carved  by  Father  Ravalli, 
and  it  was  a  work  "of  rare  merit  for  an  amateur  artist,"  says 
the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  O'Connor,  who  visited  the  Mission  in 
June,  1877.1 

The  faith  and  fervor  of  the  Indians  are  most  edifying.  Every 
day,  winter  and  summer,  year  in  and  year  out,  at  the  first  tap 
of  the  bell  which  summons  them  to  Mass  and  instruction  early 
in  the  morning,  and  to  instruction  again  and  night  prayers  in 
the  evening,  you  see  them  all,  men,  women  and  children  come 
out  of  their  log  cabins  or  tepees,  and  move  toward  the  church. 
On  Sundays  and  feast  days  of  obligation  or  of  special  devotion, 
thrice  in  the  day  are  they  called  to  their  devotions,  and  the 
bright,  gay  colors  of  their  wrappings  lend  additional  cheerful- 
ness to  the  festive  character  of  the  occasion. 

*  Half  a  keg  of  60  penny  nails,  notwithstanding  that  their  price  had  been 

considerably  reduced,  cost  $1.00  a  pound   some  twelve  years   later. 

fThis  is,  of  course,  a  description  of  the  old  church,  since  converted  into 
the  Sisters'  Hospital. 


ST.    IGNATIUS    MISSION  99 

The  "fair-weather"  Christian  is  unknown  among  these  simple- 
minded  people.  Winter  and  summer,  rain  or  shine,  in  the  bit- 
terest cold  or  the  greatest  heat,  they  can  be  seen  plodding  along 
through  snow,  slush  or  mud  on  the  way  to  church.  When  one 
of  them  dies  he  is  accompanied  to  his  last  resting  place  by  every 
member  of  the  tribe  in,  or  anyway  near  the  village;  and  many  a 
white  man,  including  the  martyr  of  Alaska,  the  Most  Rev.  Arch- 
bishop Charles  Seghers,  has  been  moved  to  the  depth  of  his 
soul  by  the  devout  impressiveness  and  sublime  Christian  sim- 
plicity of  their  funeral  processions.  One  of  the  funeral  dirges 
which  these  Indians  sing  to  this  day  when  carrying  their  dead 
to  rest  is  an  old  war  song  of  theirs,  a  stirring  wail  of  lamenta- 
tion, which  they  used  to  sing  over  their  braves  fallen  in  battle. 
It  was  set  to  music  with  Christian  words  by  Father  Mengarini, 
but  unfortunately,  though  the  words  are  the  same,  the  original 
setting  is  no  longer  extant,  and  the  present  rendering  of  the 
song  is  far  from  being  correct. 

Father  Joseph  Menetrey  taught  them  to  sing  in  Latin  the 
ordinary  of  the  Mass,  as  well  as  several  of  the  Latin  hymns 
usually  sung  at  Benediction.  They  sing  them  to  this  day  not 
only  tolerably  well,  musically,  but  with  a  distinct  and  clear  pro- 
nunciation of  every  word,  which  is  indeed  very  remarkable  for 
Indian  throats.  Still,  we  must  admit  that  their  congregational 
singing,  particularly  when  the  males  join  in,  has  ever  been  wild 
and  savage-like.  Bishop  O'Connor  has  this  to  say  of  it:  "It 
sounded  as  if  a  dozen,  at  least,  of  harmonious  wolves  were 
scattered  among  the  congregation."  It  has  doubtless  improved 
since  then. 

"As  the  Angelus  bell  rings,"  writes  the  same  Bishop,  "I  am 
struck  by  the  suddenness  with  which  they  cease  conversation, 
assume  devotional  postures,  and  retain  them,  statue-like,  until 
the  prayer  is  ended.  On  Sunday  morning  I  said  early  Mass  at 
the  church.  A  great  number  went  to  communion.  It  was  a  novel 
sight  to  see  the  Indian  mothers  approach  the  altar-rail  with  their 
papooses  on  their  backs ;  but  after  all,  was  it  not  a  touching  and 
beautiful  one  and  pleasing  to  Him  who  said,  'Suffer  the  little 
children  to  come  to  Me  and  forbid  them  not'?" 

Among  them  there  are  not  a  few  daily  communicants ;  a  great 
many  receive  the  sacraments  weekly,  others,  every  month ;  while 


ioo       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

those  who  receive  them  less  frequently  are  the  exception.  On 
the  principal  feasts  of  the  year,  Christmas  and  Easter,  and  also 
on  the  feast  of  St.  Ignatius,  the  Patron  Saint,  all  the  Indians 
gather  at  the  Mission,  some  traveling  as  many  as  two  or  three 
hundred  miles  to  be  present  on  these  occasions.  The  number  of 
communions  on  such  festivals  varies  from  800  to  more  than 
1 ,000. 

We  cannot  omit  mentioning  here  a  very  peculiar  feature, 
which,  by  way  of  preparation,  used  to  precede  in  our  days  and 
in  fact  up  to  a  short  time  ago,  these  great  solemnities.  Some 
two  or  three  days  before  the  feast,  a  kind  of  general  assizes  or 
open  court  would  be  held  by  the  chiefs  and  head  men  in  the 
presence  of  the  whole  tribe,  and  be  conducted  in  a  most  solemn 
manner.  Offenders  against  the  law  of  the  land  and  good  morals 
were  brought  before  the  whole  assembly.  But  frequently  the 
culprits  came  forward  of  their  own  free  will,  even  before  any 
accusation  had  been  lodged  against  them,  and  would  confess 
their  wrongdoing  and  ask  their  due  punishment. 

At  a  signal  given  by  the  great  chief,  the  whole  crowd  fell  on 
their  knees,  all  praying  together  aloud  for  a  space.  After  this, 
the  culprits  were  examined,  and  if  found  guilty,  they  were  sen- 
tenced and  punished  on  the  spot.  A  blanket  or  buffalo  robe 
having  been  spread  on  the  ground,  the  culprit  came  forward  and 
stretched  himself  flat  upon  it.  At  another  signal  given  by  the 
chief,  all  again  fell  upon  their  knees,  praying  aloud  for  the 
reformation  of  the  offender,  while  those  appointed  carried  out 
the  sentence  on  the  bare  back  of  the  victim.  The  whipping 
was  done  with  a  horse-whip  or  a  raw  hide,  and  the  number  of 
stripes  was  proportioned  to  the  nature  of  the  offence  and  the 
back  of  the  offender,  women  and  young  people  being,  usually, 
let  off  with  a  short  and  light  discipline. 

One  day  two  Indians,  one  of  them  a  Blackfoot  adopted  into 
the  Pend  d'Oreilles  tribe,  and  the  other  a  Kalispel,  held  a  discus- 
sion among  themselves,  each  claiming  to  be  a  better  Indian 
than  the  other.  The  Blackfoot  had  been  left  by  his  wife  and 
had  taken  unto  himself  another;  while  the  Kalispel  had  left  his 
first  wife  to  go  with  another  woman.  The  point  of  issue  between 
them  was,  which  deserved  less  blame.  Unable  to  decide  the 
question  of  themselves,  they  brought  the  case  before  the  writer. 


ST.  IGNATIUS  MISSION  101 

The  controversy,  so  far  as  stated,  was  easy  enough  to  settle,  and 
even  in  the  mind  of  the  Kalispel  himself,  the  point  would  have 
been  in  favor  of  his  opponent,  but  for  the  following  circum- 
stances which  he  now  proceeded  to  relate. 

"Black  Robe,"  said  he,  "listen  and  then  decide."  He  went  on 
to  say  that  he  had  been  married  by  Father  Menetrey  to  such  a 
one  of  the  tribe,  and  at  such  a  time,  and  that  the  Father  had 
given  him  a  big  head  of  cabbage,  twice  as  large  as  their  two 
heads  put  together,  to  feast  upon  at  their  wedding  dinner,  and 
that  he  himself  had  cooked  the  cabbage  and  set  it  before  the 
bride.  "She  scowled,  Black  Robe,"  continued  he.  "She  took  a 
mouthful,  one,  two,  three  times,  and  each  time  spit  it  out,  grim- 
acing. I  looked  her  in  the  eyes,  and  asked  her  why  she  acted 
so;  and  she  made  faces  at  me,  Black  Robe,  saying:  'You  shut 
up;  had  I  not  married  you,  no  woman  in  the  camp  would  have 
taken  you  for  a  husband !'  I  got  angry,  Black  Robe,  very  angry ; 
I  rose  without  saying  a  word,  and  left  her  and  the  big  cabbage, 
and  mounting  my  horse,  went  down  to  my  people  to  get  me 
another  wife,  to  prove  to  my  first  wife  that  she  had  lied  to  me." 

Some  three  years  after,  when  he  thought  his  first  wife  fully 
convinced  that  some  other  woman  would  have  married  him,  he 
returned  to  St.  Ignatius,  and  presented  himself  to  the  chiefs  to 
be  chastised  for  what  he  had  done.  He  was  told  to  go  and  live 
with  his  first  wife,  his  offence  being  condoned.  "No,"  said  he, 
"unless  you  give  me  my  whipping,  I  go  back  to  the  other 
woman ;"  and  off  he  started.  Some  of  the  men  were  sent  after 
him,  and  upon  his  return  he  was  given  the  coveted  castigation. 
He  then  return  to  his  first  wife,  and  a  happier  couple  could 
hardly  be  found  thereafter. 

The  poor  fellow  did  not  know  as  yet  that  a  good  end  does 
not  make  a  bad  means  lawful,  as  evil  may  never  be  done  that 
good  may  come  of  it;  and  with  this  ignorance  in  his  favor,  there 
is  no  doubt  that  the  peculiar  circumstances  lessened  considerably 
his  guilt. 

The  custom  of  whipping  did  not  originate  with  the  mission- 
aries, as  some  have  wrongly  stated.  It  existed  among  the  natives 
before  the  coming  of  the  Fathers.  While  still  pagans,  they 
believed  that  the  chastisement  wiped  out  the  guilt  of  the  action 
for  which  it  was  inflicted,  and  made   full  satisfaction   for  it. 


io2       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

Hence  the  Fathers  found  it  at  times  no  easy  task  to  convince 
them,  even  after  their  conversion,  that  they  were  obliged  to 
confess  the  sins  for  which  they  had  been  whipped.  Adultery, 
abandonment  of  one's  wife,  lying,  stealing,  slander,  drunkenness 
and  violent  anger  were  the  offences  which  the  Indians,  when 
still  in  the  darkness  of  heathenism,  punished  by  flogging.  After 
becoming  Christians,  another  offence  was  added  to  their  penal 
code  of  their  own  accord,  namely,  disorderly  conduct  at  church 
or  during  prayer. 

Father  Giorda  once  bethought  himself  of  fostering  the  fervor 
and  devotion  of  these  good  people  by  setting  before  them  at 
the  Midnight  Mass  on  Christmas  Eve  an  Infant  Jesus  that  raised 
its  little  arms  and  moved  its  eyes,  while  a  tiny  music  box,  close 
by  but  hidden  from  view,  played  the  Adeste  fideles.  He  felt 
very  confident  that  the  pious  device  would  bring  home  to  the 
Indians  the  Divine  mysteries  of  the  Manger  more  vividly  and 
with  greater  profit  for  their  souls. 

But  to  his  great  disappointment  the  result  proved  the  very 
reverse  of  what  he  had  expected.  The  artificial  motions  of 
the  figure  made  the  Indians  look  upon  the  thing  as  "a  trick  of 
the  white  man";  and  with  such  an  impression  on  their  minds, 
the  performing  bambino  lost  for  them  all  its  religious  and  pious 
significance,  and  far  from  helping  them  to  greater  fervor  and 
increasing  their  devotion,  it  actually  shocked  and  scandalized 
them.  The  incident  is  worth  recalling  for  it  goes  to  show  that 
the  so-called  movies,  when  they  enter  the  field  of  religion  by 
the  representation  of  sacred  persons  and  things,  are  far  from 
conducive  to  true  piety.* 

*  The  reason  for  this  is  not  far  to  seek.  Christian  faith  and  genuine  piety 
rest  on  objective  truths  of  a  supernatural  order,  to  which  nothing  could  be 
more  repugnant  than  optical  and  mechanical  illusions,  such  as  go  to  make  up 
all  moving  pictures. 

No  doubt,  because  of  man's  composite  nature,  representations  of  holy  and 
sacred  objects — be  the  representations  on  canvas,  or  in  print,  of  wood,  marble 
or  metal — have  been  and  will  ever  be  of  great  help  in  promoting  religion  and 
piety.  But  the  very  moment  that  the  objects  represented  are  made  to  appear 
as  animated,  as  if  living  and  in  the  flesh,  the  case  is  entirely  different;  the 
result  being  then  a  mixture  of  things  unreal  and  false,  where  illusion,  decep- 
tion, travesty  and  mimicry  are  all  at  play. 

We  speak,  of  course,  only  of  so-called  sacred  moving  picture  shows,  wherein 
the  representations  often  border  on  the  irreverent,  not  to  say  the  shocking, 
because  of  the  looks,  gait,  gestures  and  general  demeanor  of  those  who  take 


ST.  IGNATIUS  MISSION  103 

part.  This  is  particularly  the  case  when  the  sacred  person  and  actions  of 
our  Divine  Saviour,  or  those  of  His  Blessed  Mother  are  represented.  We 
carry  within  our  hearts  pictures,  as  it  were,  of  Jesus,  Mary  and  the  Saints, 
representing  the  originals  in  their  supernatural  and  divine  perfections,  but 
"sacred"  movies  shatter  our  lofty  ideals,  lowering  them  to  the  level  of  ordi- 
nary and  commonplace  objects.  How  can  religion  and  piety  be  helped  by 
these  productions? 

Yet,  we  are  told,  such  moving  picture  shows  draw  crowded  houses.  Does 
this  bespeak  faith,  active  and  vigorous,  or  rather  the  lack  of  it,  on  the  part 
of  our  people?  We  leave  to  others  the  decision.  For  our  poor  selves,  we  would 
sooner  have  the  faith  of  those  simple-minded  Indians  of  St.  Ignatius  who 
could  take  no  stock  in  the  acting  bambino  referred  to  above. 


Chapter  XIV. 

EDUCATING  THE  INDIAN. 

/.     Mission  and  School  Work. 

THE  poverty  of  the  Indian  Missions  and  the  small  number 
of  laborers  in  the  field  had  compelled  the  Fathers  to  limit 
themselves  at  first  to  essentials,  that  is,  to  strictly  missionary 
work.  Proper  training  of  the  Indian  children,  except  in  some 
few  individual  cases,  was  practically  impossible  under  the  cir- 
cumstances. 

By  the  year  1863,  however,  St.  Ignatius  Mission  had  attained  a 
degree  of  comparative  prosperity.  The  opening  of  a  boarding 
school  for  Indian  children  was  now  resolved  upon  by  Father 
Giorda,  the  general  Superior  of  the  Missions,  and  Father  U. 
Grassi,  who  had  succeeded  Father  J.  Menetrey  as  local  Superior 
of  St.  Ignatius.  Accordingly,  whilst  suitable  buildings  for  the 
purpose  were  under  construction,  steps  were  also  taken  to  secure 
competent  teachers.  These  were  to  be  a  colony  of  Sisters  of 
Providence  from  Montreal,  who,  as  we  shall  see,  arrived  at 
St.  Ignatius  a  year  after,  1864,  when  the  school,  the  first  of 
the  kind  in  the  Northwest,  was  opened. 

The  founding  of  a  boarding  school  for  the  education  of 
Indian  youth  marked  a  new  era  in  the  cause  of  the  red  man's 
civilization.  But  to  understand  fully  the  importance  of  the 
new  undertaking,  we  must  here  enter  at  some  length  upon  the 
subject  of  Indian  education.  This  becomes  the  more  necessary, 
because  Indian  school  work  is  to  engage  henceforth  much  of 
our  attention.  Leaving  therefore  aside  for  awhile  the  thread 
of  our  narrative,  we  shall  speak  first  of  the  necessity  of  educating 
the  Indians;  and  secondly,  of  the  methods  best  suited,  in  our 
opinion,  to  attain  the  object  in  view. 

We  need  hardly  say  that  public  interest  in  Indian  school 
problems,  at  present  accentuates  the  timeliness  of  the  subject. 


Workshop  at  St.  Ignatius  Mission 


First  Residence  of  Missionaries,  St.  Ignatius 


EDUCATING  THE  INDIAN  105 

//.     Necessity  of  Moral  and  Physical  Training. 

The  Indian,  before  the  advent  of  the  whites,  was  a  wild 
creature,  steeped  in  moral  and  material  barbarism.  Now,  to 
attain  an  end,  proportionate  means  are  necessary;  consequently, 
to  better  the  condition  of  the  Indian,  morally  and  materially, 
means  moral  and  material  are  indispensable.  Without  moral 
civilization,  the  red  man  will  be  no  more  than  a  white-washed 
savage;  without  the  means  and  helps  of  material  culture,  he 
can  no  more  emerge  from  his  material  barbarism  than  things 
without  legs  can  walk.  

All  this  follows  from  the  dualism  of  man's  nature,  composed 
as  it  is  of  spirit  and  matter,  soul  and  body.  Whence  arises 
the  utter  impossibility  of  civilizing  any  human  being  without 
the  proper  culture  of  both  what  is  spiritual  and  what  is  material 
in  him.  No  doubt,  body  and  soul  being  here  intimately  united 
in  one  and  the  same  subjects,  the  culture  of  either  will  redound 
to  the  benefit  of  the  other.  But  as  neither  nature  is  substantially 
changed  by  the  union,  body  and  soul,  though  united  in  one 
and  the  same  individual,  will  ever  demand  a  distinct  and  different 
culture.  A  process  for  keeping  up  the  animal  system  on  spiritual 
food,  or  feeding  the  mind  on  bread  and  beefsteak,  so  far  as 
we  know,  has  not  yet  been  discovered,  nor  is  it  likely  to  be, 
Hence  the  necessity  of  moral  and  intellectual,  as  well  as  of 
material  means  and  helps,  for  the  civilizing  of  the  red  man. 

This  holds  true  for  all  men.  Man,  at  birth  is  but  a  blank, 
helpless  little  savage,  the  scion  of  royalty,  in  this  wise,  being 
not  a  whit  better  off  than  the  rude  savage  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. Take,  if  you  please,  civilization's  most  favored  son 
from  civilization's  lap,  let  him  grow  up  in  the  barbarous  sur- 
roundings of  the  wigwam — do  you  think  his  intellectual,  moral 
and  material  condition  will  be  one  bit  above  that  of  the  wild 
children  of  the  forest?  Whence  then  the  difference?  Because 
of  education.  It  is  therefore  evident  that  the  Indian,  as  the 
rest  of  mankind,  if  he  is  to  be  civilized,  must  needs  be  educated. 

Further,  it  is  evident  that  in  the  natural  order  of  things 
grown-up  people,  being  set  and,  so  to  say,  crystallized  in  their 
ways  and  habits,  cannot  be  easily  moulded  anew.  Theirs  is 
the  case  of  the  aged,  knotty  tree;  no  ordinary  force  can  give 
it  or  make  it  retain  a  shape  contrary  to  its  natural  bent.    Plastic 


106       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

youth,  then,  not  irresponsive,  callous,  old  age,  is  nature's  period 
for  education. 

But,  can  the  youth  of  the  race  be  formed  to  civilized  habits 
if  the  grown-up  portion  remains  uncivilized?  Both  nature  and 
common  sense  give  a  negative  answer  to  the  question.  Since 
youth  is  the  subject  to  be  educated,  it  is  manifest  that  it  cannot 
educate  itself.  Moreover,  nature's  course  in  educating  is  from 
age  to  youth,  from  parent  to  child,  not  vice  versa.  But  in  the 
case  before  us,  the  parent  is  much  more  a  savage  than  his 
child,  since  he  has  grown  in  barbarism  with  age.  Far  from 
being  a  factor  in  the  child's  civilization,  the  parent,  because 
of  his  intimate  connection  with  his  children,  becomes  positively 
an  uncivilizing  agent  and  a  genuine  obstacle  in  the  way  of  their 
advancement. 

This  seems  so  clearly  the  case  that  the  advocates  of  mere 
secular  education  for  the  Indian  must  choose  between  abandon- 
ing the  task  in  despair,  or  wresting  the  children  from  their 
parents  to  carry  them  thousands  of  miles  away,  in  order  to 
educate  them.  This  latter  is  the  plan  actually  adopted.  We 
ask  the  fair-minded  reader  whether  such  a  system  can  offer 
a  proper  solution  of  this  problem.  Mere  secular  education 
cannot  bring  about  the  betterment  of  the  Indian  races,  simply 
because  it  has  power  to  educate  neither  the  adult  savage  nor 
his  offspring.  Not  the  former;  because  he  lies  beyond  the 
efficiency  of  the  means  at  its  command.  Not  the  latter;  by 
reason  of  insurmountable  obstacles  thrown  in  the  way  because 
of  the  uncivilized  condition  of  the  parent. 

If  this  be  true,  you  will  say,  the  civilization  of  the  Indian 
races  becomes  impossible.  It  is  indeed,  utterly  so,  unless  some 
element  of  greater  efficacy  than  mere  natural  causes  can  be 
introduced  to  do  the  work.  Thank  God,  such  an  element  not 
only  exists;  it  is  at  hand.  The  Creator  of  all  things  "made 
the  nations  of  the  earth  for  health" — sanabiles  fecit  nationes 
(Wisd.  I.  14)  ;  and  our  Divine  Redeemer  could  not  have 
bestowed  a  greater  boon  on  mankind  than  to  make  Christianity 
obligatory  on  all  the  children  of  Adam;  since  He  could  not 
make  it  obligatory  for  all,  without  at  the  same  time  adapting 
it  to  the  capacities  of  all. 

We  say,  then,  that  all  human  beings,  whatever  be  their  race 


EDUCATING  THE  INDIAN  107 

or  color,  and  howsoever  degraded,  all,  without  exception,  can 
be  civilized,  because  all  can  be  Christianized.  To  maintain  that 
any  people  cannot  be  Christianized  would  be  to  restrict  the 
work  of  the  Redeemer,  who  pro  omnibus  dedit,  quantum  dedit. 
To  say  that,  while  all  can  be  Christianized,  not  all  can  be 
civilized,  would  be  to  assert  a  contradiction;  since  as  day 
excludes  the  darkness  of  the  night,  so  does  Christianity  exclude 
barbarism. 

Thus,  while  mere  natural  culture  is  impotent,  as  demonstrated 
above,  to  mould  the  grown-up  savage,  and  incapable  of  training 
savage  youth  without  carrying  it  off  to  distant  captivity,  the 
case  is  entirely  different  with  Christianity.  For  endowed  as  it 
is  by  its  Divine  Founder  with  a  fund  of  supernatural  energy, 
it  is  suited  to  the  capacity  of  all;  it  brings  both  the  adult  and 
the  youth  under  its  benign  and  civilizing  influence.  The  parent, 
transformed  by  religion  into  a  morally  civilized  being,  ceases 
to  be  an  obstacle  to  the  training  of  his  children,  while  the 
educating  of  the  children  under  the  very  eye  of  the  parent, 
becomes,  in  turn,  greatly  beneficial  to  the  parent  himself. 

Mark  you  well,  however,  that  though  Christianity  does  not 
aim  directly  at  the  material  culture  of  man,  it  is  not  for  that 
any  less  a  most  potent  factor  in  his  material  civilization  also. 
For  by  condemning,  reproving,  checking  whatever  is  morally 
bad,  as  well  as  what  is  morally  excessive  or  defective  in  men's 
lives,  religion  attacks  barbarism  at  its  very  roots.  On  the  other 
hand,  by  positive  commendation  of  all  that  is  morally  good 
and  honest,  it  stimulates  man's  faculties  to  industry,  labor,  study, 
diligence  and  refinement. 

It  does  more.  All  the  ordinary  means  of  mental  and  material 
culture,  in  the  hands  of  Christianity,  derive  therefrom,  as  the 
chisel  and  brush  from  the  consummate  skill  of  the  artist,  addi- 
tional efficiency  for  good. 

It  should  be  hardly  necessary  to  remark  that  what  we  here 
predicate  of  religion,  as  the  most  indispensable  of  all  means 
to  civilize  the  Indian,  is  to  be  understood  of  true,  sterling 
Christianity  alone,  not  of  any  counterfeit  or  bogus  substitute. 
Grapes  are  not  gathered  from  thorns,  nor  figs  from  thistles; 
and  a  spurious  coin  is  really  no  coin,  no  matter  how  clever  an 
imitation  of  one  it  may  be. 


Chapter  XV. 

EDUCATING  THE  INDIAN. 

/.     President  Grant's  Peace  Policy. 

FROM  what  has  been  said  in  the  preceding  chapter,  the 
necessity  of  education,  if  the  red  man  is  to  be  civilized, 
appears  so  evident  that  one  cannot  but  wonder  why  this  indis- 
pensable means  has  been  the  last  to  be  adopted.  Yet  it  is  a 
fact,  that  until  the  last  twenty  years,  apart  from  what  little 
had  been  accomplished  by  Catholic  missionaries,  nothing, 
absolutely  nothing,  was  done  in  Montana  toward  lifting  the 
Indians  from  barbarism  by  means  of  education. 

The  cause  of  this,  however,  is  not  far  to  seek.  For,  religion 
which  alone  could  supply  the  moral  means,  could  not  furnish 
a  sufficiency  of  the  material  resources  necessary  for  the  work; 
while  the  Government,  which  might  supply  these,  could  not 
undertake  to  teach  religion  and  morality,  as  this  lies  beyond 
the  sphere  of  its  activity  and  competency. 

The  so-called  "Peace  Policy,"  inaugurated  during  the  admin- 
istration of  President  Grant,  enlisted  in  the  work  the  aid  of 
Religion  and  of  the  State.  That  policy  rested  on  solid,  rational 
ground.  But  unfortunately,  however  sound  in  principle, 
political  chicanery,  bigotry  and  prejudice  soon  found  a  way  of 
perverting  it.  Without  regard  to  the  religious  influences  that 
had  Christianized  them,  the  tribes  of  Indians  were  parceled 
out  among  the  different  denominations.  Catholic  Indians  were 
confided  to  Protestant  preachers;  the  Catholic  missionary  was 
debarred  and  driven  off  the  reservations,  and  what  good  had 
been  done  by  Catholicity  was  soon  destroyed  by  contrary 
influences.  When  this  crying  injustice  became  known,  the  sound, 
practical  sense  of  the  people  was  not  slow  to  denounce  it,  and 
a  more  liberal  application  of  the  Grant  policy  was  insisted 
upon. 


EDUCATING  THE  INDIAN  109 

//.     Contract  Schools. 

Convinced  at  last  that  the  wild  Indian  could  be  civilized  by 
education;  that  his  education  was  practically  impossible  without 
religion;  that,  while  the  Government  could  not  enter  into  the 
sphere  of  religion,  neither  could  religion  be  expected  to  feed 
and  clothe  these  wards  of  the  nation;  convinced,  further,  that 
the  red  man  could  be  civilized  far  less  expensively  by  education 
than  by  the  use  of  rifles  and  Gatling  guns,  and  that,  after 
having  absorbed  into  the  public  domain  nearly  all  the  Indian 
country,  it  was  neither  honorable,  nor  fair,  nor  honest  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States  to  refuse  to  help  the  poor  native, 
Congress  moved  the  adoption  of  the  Contract  School  system, 
as  the  proper  means  of  solving  the  perplexing  question  of 
Indian  civilization. 

That  this  was  a  wise  conclusion,  and  the  only  practical  one, 
must  appear  manifest  to  every  fair  mind.  We  dare  say,  that, 
had  such  a  course  been  adopted  and  carried  out  for  the  past 
fifty  years,  the  Indian  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  would  be  today 
civilized,  industrious,  and  self-supporting. 

Notwithstanding  the  satisfactory  results  which  have  followed 
its  introduction ;  notwithstanding  its  fairness,  justice  and  neces- 
sity, opposing  forces  are  again  hard  at  work  to  destroy  the 
contract  school.  And  what  is  to  replace  it?  A  new  system 
of  Indian  education  which,  as  declared  by  Senator  G.  G.  Vest, 
"will  cost  the  Government  millions  upon  millions  of  dollars 
without  any  appreciable  result." 

III.     Some  Poetical  Views  About  the  Indian  and 
His  Education. 

We  have  before  us  the  new  system  devised  by  the  Harrison 
administration  and  forced  upon  the  Indians,  in  place  of  the 
contract  schools,  by  Mr.  Morgan,  the  Indian  Commissioner. 
What  is  the  substance  of  the  new  scheme?  It  is  to  establish 
among  the  Indians  non-sectarian  schools,  modeled  on  the 
public  school  system,  where  no  religion  is  to  be  taught,  and 
where  the  aborigines  are  to  be  educated  by  Government 
employees,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  Christian  denominations.  And 
what  is  the  Indian  to  be  taught  according  to  the  new  system? 
Many  wonderful  things! 


no        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

"One  of  the  chief  defects  which  have  characterized  the  efforts 
made  for  their  education,"  says  Commissioner  Morgan  in  his 
official  Report  to  Congress,  "has  been  the  failure  to  carry  them 
far  enough  so  that  they  (the  Indian  youth)  might  compete 
with  the  white  youth  who  have  enjoyed  the  far  greater 
advantages  of  our  system  of  education."  "Higher  education," 
says  the  Honorable  gentleman,  "is  even  more  essential  for  them 
than  it  is  for  white  children."  "The  high  school,"  he  declares 
further  on,  "should  lift  the  Indian  students  into  so  high  a  plane 
of  thought  and  aspiration  as  to  render  the  life  of  the  camp 
intolerable  to  them.  The  Indian  high  school,  rightly  conducted, 
will  be  the  gateway  from  the  desolation  of  the  reservation  into 
assimilation  with  our  national  life."  "The  Indian  youth,"  he 
adds  charmingly  in  another  place,  "should  be  instructed  in  their 
rights,  privileges  and  duties  as  American  citizens;  they  should 
be  taught  to  love  the  American  flag.  They  should  be  imbued 
with  a  genuine  patriotism."  And  again :  "they  should  be  initiated 
into  the  laws  of  the  great  natural  forces,  heat,  electricity,  etc., 
in  their  application  to  the  arts  and  appliances  of  civilized  life." 
"There  is  urgent  need  among  them,"  he  further  tells  us,  "for 
a  class  of  leaders  of  thought,  lawyers,  physicians,  preachers, 
teachers,  editors,  statesmen  and  men  of  letters."* 

This,  then,  is  the  goal  which  Commissioner  Morgan  and  the 
Harrison  administration  propose  to  attain  by  their  new  scheme 
of  Indian  education.  We  have  been  for  over  a  quarter  of  a 
century  connected  with  the  cause  of  the  red  man  and  his  educa- 
tion in  Montana;  and  with  the  knowledge  and  experience  we 
have  of  these  races,  of  their  nature,  their  condition,  their  habits 
and  peculiarities,  the  ambitions  set  forth  by  the  Commissioner 
are  to  us  so  much  poetical  fancy,  almost  as  interesting  as  it 
is  amusing.  In  our  humble  opinion  the  plan  has  one  very 
serious  defect;  it  dwells  in  the  realm  of  the  man  in  the  moon; 
it  is  not  sublunary  and  hence  it  can  have  but  little  effect  on 
the  Indian  of  the  mountains  or  the  plains.  Some  of  the  beautiful 
things  expatiated  upon  by  the  fertile  imagination  of  the  Hon. 
Commissioner  might  possibly  pass  as  stories  for  the  nursery, 
as  a  sort  of  fairy  tale;  but  they  cannot  be  taken  seriously  by 
serious-minded  persons. 

*  See  Congressional  Record,  July  25,  1890. 


EDUCATING  THE  INDIAN  in 

We  might  quote  a  number  of  United  States  Senators,  whose 
opinions  on  the  subject  are  entirely  at  variance  with  those  of 
Commissioner  Morgan.  We  might  refer,  particularly,  to  the 
Hon.  Mr.  Jones,  of  Arkansas,  whose  eloquent,  keen,  sarcastic 
thrusts  at  the  system  show  him  to  be  a  gentleman  of  uncommon 
practical  sense  and  ability.* 

We  might  further  quote  a  number  of  others  who  spent  their 
lives  in  working  among  the  Indians ;  but  we  deem  it  unnecessary, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  the  plan  itself  is  its  own  refutation. 

To  make  the  Indian  schools  non-sectarian  is  to  eliminate 
Christianity  from  the  education  of  the  Indian ;  and  to  eliminate 
Christianity  from  the  Indian  education  is  to  exclude  from  it 
the  most  essential  element  for  success.  Without  Christianity 
the  task  is  wretchedly  hopeless.  Material  means  are  certainly 
necessary;  enthusiasm  and  philanthropy  may  assist,  but  that 
which  is  to  render  material  resources  a  means  of  genuine  civiliza- 
tion, Christianity  alone  can  supply.  Enthusiasm  soon  cools 
off  before  the  undreamed-of  difficulties  to  be  met  with  at  every 
step  in  .the  work.  Philanthropy  of  the  true  kind  is  only  of 
the  few ;  whereas  to  the  many  belong  selfishness  and  greed. 

Experience  has  amply  proven  that  the  Indian  cannot  be 
civilized  except  on  Christian  principles,  through  Christian 
methods,  in  Christian  schools,  by  Christian  teachers;  or  in  the 
very  words  of  U.  S.  Senator  Davis:  "The  education  of  the 
Indian  cannot  be  accomplished  but  by  a  Sunday  school  which 
will  last  seven  days  in  the  zveck."* 

"I  assert,"  said  the  same  Honorable  gentleman  on  the  floor 
of  the  U.  S.  Senate,  "that  history  records  with  a  pen  which 
knows  no  faltering,  that  from  the  beginning  of  time,  so  far  as 
the  intercourse  of  white  men  with  these  barbarians  is  concerned, 
it  is  only  where  the  influence  of  Christianity  has  been  brought 
to  bear  upon  them  that  they  have  made  any  progress  toward 
civilization."  .  .  .  "The  civilization  of  the  American  Indian 
has  been  the  work  of  the  Christian  church.  The  ministers  of 
Christianity  have  been  the  forerunners  of  all  that  has  been  done 
in  the  way  of  their  reclamation  from  barbarism."  "I  believe," 
said  another  United  States   Senator,  the  Hon.   Mr.   Jones,  of 

*  See  Congressional  Record,  July  25,  1890. 


ii2       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

Arkansas,  "that  educating  the  Indian  without  the  aid  of  religion 
is  an  utter  impossibility.  I  do  not  believe  that  you  can  ever 
make  any  civilization  that  is  not  based  primarily  -upon  the 
Christian  religion."* 

We  therefore  submit  that  if,  according  to  reason  and  expe- 
rience, the  Indian  cannot  be  civilized  independently  of  religion, 
then  religion  must  needs  be  the  first  requirement  of  any  system 
of  education  that  is  to  benefit  the  red  man.  Hence  appears 
how  untenable  is  the  position  of  Commissioner  Morgan  and 
every  advocate  of  non-sectarian  Indian  education,  who  while 
professing  to  desire  only  the  good  of  the  Indian,  exclude  at 
the  same  time  the  one  factor  without  which  his  civilization 
has  so  conclusively  been  demonstrated  to  be  impossible. 

But,  after  all,  are  these  gentlemen  sincere,  are  they  thoroughly 
honest  in  their  advocacy  of  the  system?  If  so,  then  at  least 
they  are  very  inconsistent.  For,  passing  over  the  fact  that 
Bibles,  hymn-books  and  the  like,  supplied  by  the  Harrison 
administration  at  the  expense  of  the  people,  are  plentiful  in 
every  Government  Indian  school,  why  are  these  non-sectarian 
schools  all  in  the  hands  of  sectarian  preachers?  This  glaring 
inconsistency  was  commented  upon  in  the  United  States  Senate 
July  25,  1890,  by  Senator  Jones,  of  Arkansas,  who  spoke  as 
follows:  "It  seems  to  me,  if  looking  simply  to  non-sectarian 
teaching,  it  is  not  wise  to  select  simply  clergymen  for  the 
purpose  of  conducting  these  schools,  and  if  we  intend  to  keep 
ourselves  entirely  free  from  any  entanglement  of  the  sort,  the 
schools  ought  to  be  put  in  charge  of  people  who  do  not  under- 
take to  teach  morals,  or  who  have  nothing  to  do  with  religion, 
at  least."* 

What  stronger  proof  do  we  need  in  support  of  our  position 
than  this  inconsistency  on  the  part  of  the  advocates  of  non- 
sectarian  Indian  education?  Either  these  gentlemen  are  con- 
vinced that  they  can  civilize  the  red  man  independently  of 
religion,  or  that  they  cannot.  If  they  are  convinced  that  they 
can,  why  do  they  appear  most  determined  to  do  away  with  it? 
If  they  believe  that  they  cannot,  why  do  they  seek  to  exclude 
it  with  their  non-sectarian  humbug? 

We  shall  see  shortly  the  real  aim  of  these  worthies. 

*  See  Congressional  Record,  July  25,  1890. 


T 


Chapter  XVI. 

THE  SCHOOL  AND  TRAINING  NEEDED  BY  THE  INDIAN. 

/.     Indian  Training. 

HE  training  of  our  Indians  must  be  of  a  very  rudimentary 
kind,  and,  above  all,  industrial. 

The  condition  of  our  Indian  with  regard  to  civilized  life  is, 
so  to  say,  like  an  infant's,  a  blank  all  over  the  line.  He  needs, 
therefore,  to  be  trained  in  every  point.  Whence  it  follows  that 
no  prominence  and  no  special  attention  can  be  given  to  any 
one  point  in  particular  in  his  formation,  since  this,  under  the 
circumstances,  could  not  be  done  but  at  the  expense  of  some- 
thing else  more  essential  for  his  training.  And  if  so,  how  can 
his  education  be  other  than  plain  and  common  all  over  the 
line,  to  suit  his  wants? 

The  training  of  the  Indian  should  be  industrial:  for  after 
religion,  next  in  importance  as  a  factor  of  Indian  civilization, 
must  be  placed  manual  labor.  This  is  all  the  more  true,  because 
our  Indians  have  a  deep  aversion  to  real  labor;  and  as  lack 
of  industrial  activity  is  what  actually  causes  their  uncivilized 
condition  in  the  material  sense,  it  is  this  likewise  that  perpetuates 
it.  Consequently,  it  is  impossible  to  civilize  them,  except  by 
forming  them  to  habits  of  industry  and  useful  toil. 

A  plain,  common  English  education,  embracing  spelling, 
reading  and  writing,  with  the  rudiments  of  arithmetic,  is  book- 
learning  sufficient  for  our  Indians.  Anything  beyond  that  for 
the  present  at  least,  in  our  candid  opinion,  would  prove  detri- 
mental, rather  than  beneficial ;  since  it  might  serve  to  encourage 
their  natural  indolence  at  the  expense  of  what  they  need  most, 
industrial  education.  An  Indian  youth,  as,  a  matter  of  fact, 
will  sooner  sit  two  and  three  hours  at  a  stretch  half  asleep 
with  a  book  before  him,  than  hoe  a  row  of  potatoes.  Further- 
more, like  a  weak  stomach  that  can  digest  but  little   food  at 


ii4        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

a  time,  even  so  is  the  head  of  an  Indian  with  regard  to  book- 
learning. 

Further,  it  is  agreed  on  all  sides  that  the  main  object  of  his 
industrial  education  must  be  to  enable  the  Indian  to  become 
self-supporting.  But  it  is  not  necessary  for  this  that  he  should 
become  an  artist,  or  a  skilful  workman,  or  even  a  mechanic. 
For  it  is  obvious  that  so  long  as  civilization  is  not  more  gen- 
erally advanced  among  them,  trades  cannot  be  much  in  demand. 

That  an  Indian  youth,  who  may  show  a  special  aptitude 
for  one  of  the  common,  ordinary  trades,  or  even  for  a  profes- 
sion, be  given  an  opportunity  to  become  proficient  in  it,  is  well 
and  good.  This,  however,  could  only  be  by  way  of  exception. 
We  may  therefore  conclude  that  to  civilize  the  Indian  his 
education  should  be  mainly  agricultural.  Let  him  be  trained 
especially  in  farming,  stock-raising  and  the  like ;  since  these 
are,  of  all  occupations,  most  suited  to  his  actual  needs. 

//.     Indian  Day  Schools. 

Of  what  benefit  will  a  school  be,  if  attendance  is  practically 
out  of  the  question?  This  is  the  case  with  Indian  day  schools. 
How  can  the  red  man  go  to  school  and  live,  so  long  as  his  daily 
sustenance  is  still  flying  in  the  air,  or  swimming  in  the  water, 
or  roaming  about  in  the  woods?  In  cooking  a  hare,  says  a 
French  saw,  the  first  thing  to  do  is  to  catch  it.  But  Commis- 
sioner Morgan  can  go  one  better;  he  can  cook  a  hare  with  no 
hare  to  cook,  that  is,  he  can  school  Indians  with  no  Indian  to 
receive  his  schooling. 

We  say  emphatically,  the  red  man  of  the  mountains  is  still 
too  much  of  a  savage  for  anyone  to  entertain  even  the  faintest 
hope  of  civilizing  him  by  means  of  day  schools.  Hence  our 
conviction  that  the  plan  is  advocated  by  people  who  either  know 
nothing  about  the  Indians,  or  who,  under  the  pretence  of 
Indian  education,  seek  to  impose  on  the  Government.  Though 
an  example  or  two,  could  they  be  adduced  against  us,  would 
not  weaken  our  position,  since  the  exception  but  confirms  the 
rule,  we  do  not  known  of  any.  We  will  be  thankful  to  him  who 
points  out  to  us  one  single  instance  of  a  day  school  for  Indians 
which  has  not  been  a  total  failure. 

Day  schools  are  certainly  good,  nay,  better,  by  far,  than 
boarding  schools   for  youth  who  are  born  in  civilization  and 


SUITABLE  SCHOOLS  FOR  INDIAN  115 

who,  together  with  the  training  of  the  school-room  enjoy  the 
still  greater  blessing  of  home  and  family  education.  But,  even 
granted  that  they  could  attend  it  on  others  than  "ration  days," 
of  what  practical  use  for  their  education  can  a  day  school  be 
for  wild  Indian  children  who  have  no  real  home,  and  who  are 
destitute  of  family  training?  Nay,  whose  home,  or  whatever 
you  may  please  to  call  it,  is  but  a  complex  of  uncivilizing 
elements,  parents,  associations,  surroundings,  and  all?  How 
can  you  civilize  these  savage  beings,  except  you  withdraw  them 
from  the  blighting  influences  that   encompass   them  on  every 

side? 

Examine  the  problem  fairly,  and  see  whether  it  can  be  solved 
satisfactorily  except  through  the  Indian  boarding  school.  We 
are  convinced  it  cannot. 

///.     Indian  Boarding  Schools  Off  the  Indian  Country. 

It  were  wrong  to  fancy,  however,  that  to  give  the  Indian 
a  school  suited  to  his  needs  it  is  necessary  to  transport  him 
thousands  of  miles  away  from  his  native  habitat. 

On  the  contrary,  the  Indian  boarding  school  located  in  their 
midst  has  for  the  natives  far  greater  advantages  than  one  far 

away. 

For,  first,  while  it  withdraws  the  children  from  their  objec- 
tionable surroundings,  it  entails  no  painful  separation.  For 
parents  can  see  their  children  daily,  at  church,  in  the  class-room, 
at  play,  at  work  in  the  shop  or  in  the  field;  and  in  the  case  of 
sickness  can  sit  up  with  them,  care  for  them  and  watch  at  their 
bedside. 

Secondly,  being  in  their  midst,  it  can  train  its  charges 
according  to  local  conditions,  directing  their  education  with  a 
view  to  remedy  their  wants.  It  is  clear  that  many  such  wants 
could  not  be  provided  for  except  through  pursuits,  the  practical 
usefulness  of  which  depends  on  experimental  knowledge  to  be 
acquired  on  the  spot.  Successful  farming  requires  a  practical 
knowledge  of  the  nature  of  the  soil,  length  of  seasons,  seeding 
time,  atmospheric  conditions,  climatic  changes,  etc.,  which 
differ  in  different  sections  of  the  country.  The  same  may  be 
said  of  gardening  and  stock-raising. 

Thirdly,  bringing  as  it  does  civilization  and  its  reverse  face 


n6       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

to  face — the  former  with  its  home  and  dwelling,  its  good  food, 
its  cleanliness,  its  field  and  garden,  its  stock,  its  comforts  and 
its  plenty;  and  the  latter,  with  the  whole  train  of  its  wretched 
contrasts — the  Indian  is,  as  it  were,  made  to  see,  hear,  smell, 
touch,  taste  and  compare  the  blessings  of  the  one  with  the 
misery  of  the  other.  Hence  the  industrial  boarding  school  in 
their  midst  becomes,  not  only  for  the  children  who  are  directly 
benefited  by  it,  but  indirectly  for  all,  an  argument  for  civilization 
than  which  none  can  be  more  effective.  Thus  also  the  amelio- 
ration of  the  grown-up  Indian  is  attained;  since  what  is  required 
for  the  direct  formation  of  the  young  becomes  an  indircet 
education  for  the  old. 

The  conclusion  arrived  at  by  the  special  Congressional  Com- 
mittee appointed  by  the  House  of  Representatives  in  1885  to 
look  into  the  subject,  is  interesting  and  much  to  the  point. 
"We  repeat  what  has  already  been  expressed,  that  if  the  interest 
of  the  Indian  children  and  of  the  tribes  is  to  be  consulted,  these 
children  should  be  educated,  and  that  on  the  reservation,  in 
the  midst  of  the  tribes,  the  school  and  its  industries  being  an 
example  and  incentive,  not  to  the  children  only,  but  to  the 
whole  tribe."  And  again:  "The  Committee  urge  the  policy 
of  educating  and  training  the  Indian  children  on  the  reservation, 
not  only  because  it  is  best  for  the  children  and  the  tribe,  but 
at  the  same  time  a  measure  of  economy."* 

There  is  no  need  of  our  laying  special  stress  on  the  greater 
expensiveness  of  Indian  boarding  schools  off  the  Indian  country, 
when  compared  with  the  Indian  boarding  school  conducted  at 
home.  The  matter  is  touched  upon  by  the  Congressional  Com- 
mittee we  have  just  quoted,  and  it  is  also  referred  to  by  us 
elsewhere. 

Deserving  consideration,  however,  is  the  separation  that  the 
boarding  school  off  their  reservation  entails  upon  the  Indians, 
a  separation  not  only  dreaded  by  the  parent  and  the  child,  but 
harmful  to  both. 

We  doubt  whether  any  fathers  and  mothers  can  be  more 
fond  of  their  children  than  are  the  Indian  parents  of  theirs. 
And  whence  this  exceeding  great  fondness  of  the  Indians  for 
their  children?     From  their  uncivilized  condition,  of  which  it 

*  House  of  Representatives'  Report,  1876. 


SUITABLE  SCHOOLS  FOR  INDIAN  117 

is  but  a  natural  and  necessary  consequence.  Parental  affection 
in  the  Indian  is  but  the  expression  of  a  primal  instinct  of  man's 
animal  nature.  It  is  hardly  subject  to  reason  in  the  savage, 
and  consequently  is  stronger  than  in  civilized  beings.  From 
which  it  follows  that  separation  from  loved  ones  works  a  graver 
hardship  on  the  Indian  than  on  the  white  man. 

The  fact  that  some  Indian  youths  are  being  carried  off  to 
such  schools  proves  nothing  against  our  position.  It  simply 
proves  that  Indians,  like  other  mortals,  do  at  times  what  they 
cannot  help;  that  coaxing,  bribery,  trickery,  intimidation  and 
coercion  can  extort  from  the  red  man  an  unwilling  consent, 
as  they  often  extort  it  from  others.  We  say  an  unwilling 
consent;  for  as  soon  as  the  pressure  brought  to  bear  upon  them 
has  relaxed,  the  parents  are  almost  certain  to  retract  their  per- 
mission. If  in  the  meanwhile  their  children  have  been  taken 
away,  the  unfortunate  creatures  not  only  lament  inconsolably 
over  them,  but  in  their  bereavement,  as  Indians  are  wont  to  do, 
often  disfigure  themselves,  cutting  themselves  with  knives,  to 
give  vent  to  their  sorrow. 

What  is  the  method  used  to  secure  Indian  children  for  these 
far-off  Indian  boarding  schools?  We  are  told  by  the  Hon. 
Mr.  Holman,  "The  Agent  of  Carlisle  or  any  other  school  in 
the  East  goes  to  the  place  where  the  Indians  are;  he  tells  the 
Indian  Agent  how  many  children  he  wants  and  the  Agent  says 
to  the  parents  of  the  children  selected,  'Your  rations  are  sus- 
pended until  you  let  your  children  go.'  This  statement  was 
made  quite  recently  in  the  House  of  Representatives  by  the 
Honorable  gentleman.  And  what  is  the  meaning  of  the  "sus- 
pension of  rations,"  held  over  the  head  of  the  Indian  parent, 
to  induce  him  to  part  with  his  children?  Few  of  the  American 
people  have  any  idea  what  it  means,  or  in  their  indignation 
they  would  not  only  denounce  it  as  barbarous  and  inhuman, 
but  they  would  brand  its  authors;  with  perpetual  infamy.  It 
means  starvation.  Many  of  the  poor  wretches  have  today 
nothing  to  live  upon  but  the  scanty  rations  that  are  furnished 
them  by  the  Government;  and  if  these  are  taken  away,  starvation 
stares  them  in  the  face. 

Again,  what  are  the  effects  of  educating  Indian  children  in 
such  boarding  schools?    Must  it  not  tend  to  alienate  them  from 


n8       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

their  own  flesh  and  blood?  Indians  so  educated  are  only  too 
likely  to  turn  out  as  so  many  over-educated  white-skinned 
individuals,  who  are  to  be  met  with  everywhere  in  the  lower 
walks  of  life;  whose  education  is  their  misfortune;  who  know 
too  much  and  are  too  clever  to  live  by  honest  toil,  and  for  whom 
the  haunts  and  gilded  surroundings  of  vice  have  always  a 
deeper  and  stronger  attraction  than  the  plain,  simple  comforts 
of  an  humble,  virtuous  home.  They  are,  in  a  word,  too 
civilized  and  have  lived  too  long  in  ease  and  comfort,  to  go 
back  and  stay  again  with  kith  and  kin  in  all  the  discomforts 
of  an  uncivilized,  or  at  best,  semi-civilized  state.  Or,  were 
they  to  return  and  live  among  them,  their  conduct  would  likely 
prove  an  obstacle,  instead  of  a  help  to  others. 

But  the  other  day  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
Mr.  Holman,  who  in  1885  was  Chairman  of  a  special  Com- 
mittee sent  out  by  the  House  of  Representatives  for  the  purpose 
of  investigating  the  results  of  this  system  of  Indian  education, 
made  the  following  statement:  "The  results  of  this  class 
(Indian  schools  off  the  reservation)  are  unsatisfactory.  We 
did  not  find  in  our  observations  a  single  instance  where  the 
children  who  had  gone  from  these  schools  back  to  the  reser- 
vations, unless  supported  in  some  form  or  other  by  the 
Government,  had  not  relapsed  into  barbarism,  and  this  applies 
to  the  girls  as  well  as  to  the  boys — and  in  many  cases  they  had 
become  more  vicious  than  the  body  of  the  tribe."*  What  more 
explicit,  more  emphatic  and  weightier  testimony  could  be 
adduced  in  condemnation  of  the  system? 

Reason,  then,  is  again  supported  by  experience  and  authority; 
and  we  therefore  conclude  that,  whatever  its  merits  in  some 
isolated  cases,  the  plan  is  unsuitable.  Its  advantages,  if  it  has 
any,  are  only  for  the  few ;  whereas  its  disadvantages  are  real, 
serious,  and  manifold.  When,  therefore,  the  Hon.  George  G. 
Vest  declared  in  the  U.  S.  Senate,  "I  would  not  take  these 
children  to  the  States,  where  they  would  acquire  ideas  which 
are  alien  to  Indian  life,"  he  expressed  in  a  short,  pithy  sentence 
the  substance  of  our  argument. 

The  system  of  training  Indian  children  in  boarding  schools 
off   the   reservation   has   advantages,   however,   if   not   for  the 

*  Italics  ours.    Congressional  Record. 


SUITABLE  SCHOOLS  FOR  INDIAN  119 

Indians  themselves,  at  least  for  the  teachers  and  managers 
of  the  schools.  And  who  knows,  but  this,  at  bottom,  is  the 
very  reason  why  the  system  is  adopted,  commended  and  made 
to  appear  satisfactory,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  its  results 
prove  it  to  be  the  very  reverse? 

IV.     The  Health  of  the  Children. 

Thus  far,  nothing  has  been  said  about  the  health  of  the 
children,  surely  a  very  necessary  consideration  in  every  educa- 
tional system. 

Now,  it  is  well  known  that  the  roving  disposition  of  the 
Indian  can  ill  brook  restraint.  Hence  school  discipline  and 
confinement  must  be  tempered  and  regulated  with  great  discre- 
tion, if  they  are  not  to  impair  seriously  the  health  of  the 
Indian  youth.  It  is  a  general  law  of  life,  whether  in  animal 
or  plant,  that  one  thrives  only  in  surroundings  that  are  con- 
genial. Birds  and  other  animals  accustomed  to  unlimited 
freedom  in  nature,  if  placed  in  confinement,  though  it  be  in  a 
golden  cage,  will  suffer,  pine  away  and  die.  So  also  many  a 
plant  will  thrive,  grow  vigorous  and  strong  in  poorer  soil  and 
rougher  climate,  because  native  and  congenial,  but  when  trans- 
planted to  richer  soil  and  milder  clime,  will  grow  sickly,  wither 
and  die. 

Even  so  with  Indian  children.  To  snatch  them  away  from 
their  native  habitat  and  transport  them  thousands  of  miles  away 
from  their  mountains  and  prairies,  from  the  scenes  of  their 
youth,  their  cherished  fishing  streams  and  hunting  grounds,  and 
throw  them  utter  strangers  among  strangers,  where  everything 
round  them  is  not  only  new  and  bewildering,  but  uncongenial; 
where  for  months  and  for  years  they  are  deprived  of  all  inter- 
course and  communication  with  their  kindred,  and  where  they 
have  nothing  to  remind  them  of  their  home  and  people,  except 
fellow  Indians  as  forlorn  and  miserable  as  themselves,  all  this 
cannot  but  have  a  serious,  depressing  effect  upon  them  and 
prove  injurious  to  their  health. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  because  of  its  confinement  the 
boarding  school  is  at  a  disadvantage  with  the  day  school.  But 
this  disadvantage,  while  unavoidable,  is  reduced  to  its  minimum 
in  the  school  established  in  the  Indian  country;  whereas  in  the 


120        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

boarding  school  oft*  the  reservation  it  is  intensified  to  its 
maximum,  and  without  sufficient  cause.  In  the  former,  the 
confinement  is  greatly  modified  by  the  environs;  whereas  all 
the  surroundings  of  the  latter  do  but  aggravate  it.  It  is  to  be 
noted  that  the  confinement  of  a  boarding  school,  albeit  within 
the  reservation,  may  prove  harmful  to  the  health  of  the  children, 
if  it  be  not  regulated  and  tempered,  as  already  said,  by  much 
practical  sense  and  discretion. 

Mischief  in  man's  doings  lies  neither  entirely  nor  always 
on  the  side  of  the  less;  it  frequently  arises  from  the  too  much; 
so  to  overdo  things  may  prove  at  times  even  more  faulty  and 
mischievous  than  to  do  them  poorly.  It  is  our  candid  belief 
that  this  applies  in  a  special  manner  to  the  case  before  us.  To 
those  who  have  seen  the  physical  wrecks  among  the  few  young 
Indians  who  have  returned  to  us  from  far-away  schools,  the 
system  appears  scarcely  better  than  an  improved,  refined,  and 
more  expedite  method  of  killing  off  the  Indian. 

Nostalgia  or  homesickness  is  a  disease  well  known  to  medical 
science,  and  not  a  few  of  the  Indian  youth  who  are  thus 
transported  for  their  education  die  victims  of  the  effects  of 
this  malady.  We  venture  the  assertion,  based  on  facts  of  our 
own  observations,  that  if  a  thorough  investigation  were  made 
into  the  matter,  it  would  be  discovered  that  a  large  percentage 
of  Indians  so  educated  die  before  reaching  maturity.  If  this 
be  to  civilize  the  Indian  by  teaching  him  "ideas  alien  to  Indian 
life;"  if  this  be  to  "bring  him  in  touch  with  civilized  American 
life,"  then  it  is  civilization  with  a  vengeance,  besides  being  an 
utter  defiance  of  the  old  Scriptural  saw  that  "A  live  dog  is 
better  than  a  dead  lion." 

We  know,  however,  that  with  people  who  think  no  Indian 
good,  except  a  dead  one,  our  plea  for  the  red  man  will  be  of 
little  avail.  To  all  such,  a  system  of  Indian  schools  that  will 
educate  and  civilize  the  Indian  out  of  existence  will  always  be 
preferable  to  any  other. 

V.     The  Morals  of  the  Children. 

However,  we  are  far  from  maintaining  that  all  boarding 
schools  will  answer  the  purpose,  and  we  do  not  deny  that  there 
are  serious  difficulties  and  grave  dangers  to  be  guarded  against 


SUITABLE  SCHOOLS  FOR  INDIAN  121 

ii>  conducting  such  institutions.  In  human  affairs  it  is  hardly- 
possible  to  secure  an  advantage  in  one  direction  without  suffer- 
ing some  disadvantage  in  another.  Hence,  while  the  boarding 
school  offers  advantages,  on  the  one  hand,  it  never  is  without 
its  drawbacks,  on  the  other.  We  need  not  exaggerate  the  dark 
side  nor  overdraw  the  picture.  With  regard  to  moral  dangers, 
for  instance,  met  with  in  boarding  schools  where  either  the 
discipline  is  lax,  or  proper  vigilance  and  supervision  are  wanting, 
we  simply  assert  that  such  dangers  do  exist  and  are  too  well 
known  to  practical  and  experienced  educators,  to  call  for  any 
proof.  Nor  are  Ithey  fewer  or  less  serious  among  Indian 
children. 

For  ourselves — and  this  we  say  with  all  candor — we  much 
doubt  whether  it  would  not  be  preferable  to  let  the  savage  live 
and  die  in  his  native  barbarism  than  to  have  him  brought  up 
in  a  boarding  school,  where  the  corrective  and  restraining  ele- 
ments of  Christianity,  its  principles,  its  doctrines  and  its  helps 
are  excluded ;  where  his  education,  while  increasing  his  capacity 
for  physical  and  mental  activity,  quickens,  stimulates,  and 
sharpens  also  the  passions  and  appetites  of  his  nature.  Such 
a  school,  in  our  opinion,  is  utterly  incapable  of  supplying  him 
with  adequate  means  to  keep  his  nature  under  control.  In 
his  native  barbarism  the  Indian  is  very  miserable,  it  is  true, 
but  less  guilty,  perhaps,  before  his  Maker,  for  the  offences 
which  he  commits. 

We  know  that  non-sectarianism  has  no  such  scruples,  and  that 
its  advocates  will  dismiss  our  reasoning  with  a  smile  on  their 
lips.  But,  then,  are  they  any  the  wiser  for  that?  They  may 
laugh  at  our  scruples,  but  are  we  not  cautioned  by  the  "Father 
of  the  country,"  George  Washington  himself,  in  his  Farewell 
Address,  "not  to  indulge  in  the  supposition  that  morality  with- 
out religion  can  be  maintained"?  Does  not  experience  proclaim 
daily,  and  everywhere,  that  mortality  without  religion  is  but  a 
phantom  of  the  imagination?  Smiles  cannot  destroy  the 
testimony  of  stubborn  fact  which  is  that  many  an  Indian  was 
far  less  immoral  when  a  savage  in  the  woods  than  after  years 
of  tutelage  in  a  non-sectarian  school. 

When  Mr.  Call  in  the  United  States  Senate  declared  emphati- 


122        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

cally:  "The  safety  of  the  morals  of  these  people  requires  that 
they  should  be  put  under  the  guardianship  of  religion,"  he 
touched  the  kernel  of  the  whole  question,  and  the  experience  of 
a  quarter  of  a  century  makes  us  subscribe  unconditionally  to 
the  Senator's  words.* 

*  Congressional  Record,  July  25,  1890. 


I 


Chapter  XVII. 

NON-SECTARIANISM    IN   INDIAN  EDUCATION  AND  INDIAN 

CONTRACT  SCHOOLS. 

N  a  recent  issue  of  a  leading  Montana  paper,  a  writer 
under  the  pseudonym  "Constitution"  has  come  forth  to 
champion  the  non-sectarian  system  of  Indian  education  inaugu- 
rated by  the  Harrison  administration.  As  a  rule,  the  only 
attention  anonymous  writers  deserve  is  to  be  left  unnoticed.- 
But  as  the  article  in  question  bears  the  ear-marks  of  inspiration 
from  higher  quarters  than  a  newspaper  office,  and  is,  besides, 
a  fair  exposition  of  the  grounds  on  which  the  system  is  advocated 
by  its  authors,  we  call  our  readers'  attention  to  it,  that  they 
may  consider  and  judge  for  themselves  of  the  real  merits  of 

the  case. 

Education  for  Indians, 
important  ideas  and  historical  facts  bearing  on  question. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Journal: 

Sir:— In  the  Daily  Independent  of  December  14th  appeared  an 
article  signed  by  Rev!  Palladino,  S.  J.,  which,  as  voicing  the  persistent 
attitude  of  the  sect  to  which  he  belongs,  occasions  no  surprise ;  but 
as  it  is  one  move  only  in  an  open  warfare  upon  the  faithful  Commis- 
sioner of  Indian  Affairs,  and,  through  him  a  menace  to  the  Admin- 
istration, which  has  thus  far  withstood  their  demand  for  his  removal 
(it  would  be  the  same  with  a  Democratic  administration),  this  article 
has  much  political  significance;  and  it  is  well  for  the  people  to 
consider  the  real  merits  of  the  case. 

It  does  not  follow  that  because  Senator  Vest  ostentatiously  sub- 
scribes himself  as  an  enemy  of  Jesuitism,  all  he  says  must  be  taken 
as  unbiased.  He  is  quoted  in  one  part  of  Rev.  Palladino's  article  as 
saying,  "It  is  impossible  to  educate  an  Indian  if  you  let  him  go  back 
to  his  family  each  day,"  and  again,  with  absurd  inconsistency,  "I 
would  not  take  them  off  to  the  States  where  they  could  acquire  ideas 
which  are  alien  to  Indian  life." 

These  sentences  have  a  dogmatic  ring,  and,  in  fact,  the  entire  atti- 
tude of  the  Senator  may  well  be  considered  a  bit  of  special  pleading. 
Over  against  it  are  the  testimonies  of  many  reliable  witnesses,  whose 


124       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

knowledge  is  not  confined  to  one  junketing  tour  or  season,  including 
no  inconsiderable  part  of  the  Indians  themselves. 

Few  people,  of  whatever  belief,  are  disposed  to  belittle  the  heroism 
and  devotion  of  those  Fathers,  like  De  Smet  and  his  contemporaries, 
who  sacrificed  their  lives  in  the  wilderness  at  the  behest  of  their 
religion  and  to  benefit  mankind ;  but  what  monument  is  left  of  their 
work  other  than  their  fame — and  valuable  church  property  ?  Where 
are  the  Indians  they  have  lifted  from  barbarism?  (It  is  to  be  ob- 
served that  there  is  no  parallel  between  their  surroundings  and  work 
and  those  of  their  successors  of  to-day.) 

To  those  who  question  religious  authority  it  may  well  appear  that 
the  Rev.  Palladino  is  of  the  opinion  that  if  they  "go  to  mass  regu- 
larly," it  is  not  desirable  that  the  Indians  "should  acquire  ideas  which 
are  alien  to  Indian  life,"  but  we  submit  that  the  Government  appro- 
priates large  sums  of  money  for  Indian  education  for  the  express 
purpose,  of  having  them  acquire  such  ideas,  to  the  end  that  "Indian 
life,"  as  distinguished  from  the  life  of  the  other  people  of  these 
United  States,  should  disappear  entirely,  and  as  speedily  as  may  be. 

That  the  Jesuits  disapprove  of  the  non-sectarian  Indian  schools, 
and  attack  with  scorn  the  plans  of  Commissioner  Morgan,  need  cause 
no  surprise ;  they  have  done  the  same  with  the  whole  free  school 
system,  calling  them  "Godless,"  "irreligious,"  etc.,  and  yet  it  is  well 
known  to  all  people  that  the  religious  standard  (I  speak  not  of 
profession,  but  of  practical  religion,  manifest  in  action)  is  as  high 
among  their  teachers  as  in  the  parochial  schools,  and  that  the  attend- 
ants of  the  free  schools  bear  honorable  comparison  with  those  of 
the  others,  not  only  in  walk  and  conversation,  but  in  the  averages 
which  the  criminal  statistics  of  the  country  show. 

Let  it  not  be  forgotten  that  among  the  sectarian  contract  schools 
the  co-religionists  of  Rev.  Palladino  have  had,  heretofore,  near  or 
quite  three-fourths  of  the  appropriations  and  less  than  half  of  the 
Indians  also ;  that  the  issue  is  not  whether  teachers  who  happen  to 
be  Catholics  shall  be  employed,  but  whether  the  Commissioner  shall 
run  his  department  and  oversee  the  expenditure  of  the  appropriations 
with  the  responsibility  for  which  he  is  charged,  or  turn  it  over  to 
a  self-appointed  religious  bureau  in  Washington  to  dispose  of  at 
their  own  sweet  will. 

The  Commissioner  is  right.  Let  the  Indians  learn  "ideas  alien  to 
Indian  life,"  that  they  may  learn  to  be  in  touch  with,  and  no  menace 
to,  the  civilized  American  life  which  is  fast  closing  in  about  them. 
If  they  choose  also  to  learn  any  religion,  let  them  choose  it,  and  let 
not  those  who  would  do  sacrifice  to  teach  it,  stultify  their  charity  by 
making  it  depend  upon  Government  bounty. 


NON-SECTARIANISM  IN  INDIAN  EDUCATION  125 

As  a  fair  commentary  on  Senator  Vest's  rhapsodies,  let  those 
interested  in  the  subject  read  the  history  of  the  rise  and  fall,  within 
this  century,  of  the  "Missions  of  California"  with  their  thousands  of 
"Christianized  Indians,"  and  how  gladly  they  went  back  to  their 
mountains  and  wild  life  when  the.  Government  in  Mexico  compelled 
the  disbanding  of  the  standing  army  which  had  led  them  in  peonage 
and  "Christianity."* 

Then  look  for  any  civilized  tribes  under  control  of,  or  in  the  wake 
of,  teaching  which  makes  obedient  (  ?)  children  rather  than  self- 
contained  citizens,  and  you  cannot  find  them  in  America.  The 
following  extracts  are  from  a  dispassionate  sketch,  and  exhibit  the 
mission  system  and  its  achievements  with  Indians  when  given  the 
most  favorable  opportunities : 

"The  mission  was  from  one  standpoint  missionary  and  ecclesias- 
tical ;  from  another  it  was  industrial  and  political ;  Christianized 
natives  meant  laborers  and  vassals.  The  California  Indians,  of  whom 
in  1 72 1  Collier  wrote,  'Every  family  hath  an  entire  Legislature  and 
Governors  at  discretion,'  were  brought  into  a  subjection  only  paral- 
leled in  Paraguay. 

"In  July,  1769,  Father  Serra,  a  man  of  singular  zeal,  piety,  ascet- 
icism and  administrative  ability,  founded  San  Diego  and  began  the 
mission  system  in  Alta  California.  His  success  completed  its  eccle- 
siastical conquest  and  brought  the  coast  tribes  into  full  subjection. 

"The  missions  in  their  prime  were  little  more  than  Indian  reserva- 
tions, managed,  it  is  true,  with  great  zeal  and  marked  industrial 
success,  but  entirely  incapable  of  making  citizens  of  their  Indian 
occupants.  From  the  days  of  the  good  Las  Casas,  Spain  and  Mexico 
have  honestly  tried  to  do  their  best  by  the  Indians.  The  laws  of 
Mexico  gave  them  many  rights  which  in  practice  they  were  utterly 
unable  to  obtain.  Later  Spanish  laws  created  additional  safeguards 
against  the  loss  of  their  common  or  other  lands,  but  in  California, 
as  in  Mexico,  the  actual  rights  possessed  by  the  Indians  were  less 
than  their  legal  rights  even  during  the  sixty  years  of  the  missions' 
undisputed  control. 

If  the  condition  of  vassalage  in  which  mission  Indians  were  kept 
be  considered  entirely  justifiable,  their  treatment  was  on  the  whole 
satisfactory.  Few  whites  besides  priests  and  soldiers  were  allowed 
to  live  at  the  missions.  The  Indians  were  fed  and  clothed,  taught 
trades,  simple  mechanical  arts  and  the  system  of  agriculture  practiced 
in  Spain,  passing  their  uneventful  lives  as  humble  servants  of  the 

*  See  Mining  Camps:  a  Study  in  American  Frontier  Life,  by  Charles  Howard 
Shinn,  A.B.,  Baltimore,  1884. 


126       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

Church,  which  was  virtually  independent  of  Mexico,  owner  of  the 
soil,  and  master  of  the  country. 

"One  might  fill  a  volume  with  incidents  of  life  in  these  quaint  and 
curious  missions  before  their  hour  of  doom  came.  The  people  rose 
at  sunrise,  spent  an  hour  at  chapel,  marched  singing  to  the  fields, 
returned  when  the  evening  Angelus  rang,  spent  the  evening  in  games 
and  amusements  and  retired  to  their  huts.  They  planted  gardens, 
vineries  and  orange  groves — gardens  in  which  the  choicest  fruits  of 
Granada  and  Andalusia  were  grown.  They  tended  the  fast-multi- 
plying herds  of  the  missions,  the  broad  valleys  and  fertile  foothills. 
De  Courcey  says  that  the  Franciscan  Fathers  had  75,000 
California  Indians  civilized  and  converted  before  1813.     .      .      . 

"When  the  missions  were  first  established  a  tract  of  about  fifteen 
acres  was  allotted  to  each  one,  but  their  lands  were  never  surveyed, 
and  they  gradually  extended  their  bounds  until  they  laid  claim  to 
nearly  the  entire  region.  The  term  "mission"  that  once  meant  only 
the  church  town  with  the  gardens  and  orchards  near  it,  soon  came 
to  include  the  extensive  tracts  over  which  the  cattle,  horses  and  sheep 
owned  by  the  establishment  roamed  at  will.  The  priests  never 
received  any  formal  acknowledgment  from  the  Spanish  Govern- 
ment of  their  land  claims.  The  revolution  of  1812  put  the  subject 
into  the  hands  of  the  Mexican  liberals,  who,  four  years  later,  freed 
the  Indian  serfs  from  compulsory  allegiance  to  the  priesthood. 

"The  famous  missions,  with  all  their  faults  of  theory  and  practice, 
had  been  planted  by  men  possessed  of  the  true  missionary  spirit ;  they 
had  done  much  to  civilize  the  natives  and  more  to  improve  the 
country.  They  had  often  dispensed  a  genial  and  generous  hospitality 
to  strangers,  and  they  ruled  their  servants  with  a  firm  and  liberal 
hand.  When  the  whole  social  fabric  of  the  mission  system  went  to 
ruin,  the  suddenness  of  its  downfall  shocked  all  thoughtful  observers. 
Yet  it  was  but  an  artificial  system,  and  its  intrinsic  worthlessness  was 
plainly  revealed  the  moment  the  outside  pressure  and  military  coer- 
cion were  removed.  Moral  suasion  was  futile  to  restrain  the  thou- 
sands of  Indian  converts,  who  would  no  longer  be  persuaded  to  make 
soap,  mould  bricks,  weave  wool,  sing  Latin  hymns  and  mediaeval 
prayers.  They  returned  to  their  hillsides,  their  grasshoppers,  their 
camas  roots  and  their  idleness,  while  many  of  the  priests  went  back 
to  Mexico.  The  missions'  lack  of  economic  success  was  by  far  the 
least  part  of  its  failure."* 

As  for  the  Flat  Head  Indians,  it  is  sufficient  to  say,  after  the  fifty 
years'  teaching,  they  have  in  the  past  five  years  committed  more 

♦From  Mining  Camps:  A  Study  in  American  Frontier  Life,  by  Charles 
Howard  Shinn,  A.B.,  Johns  Hopkins  University,  Baltimore,  1884. 


NON-SECTARIANISM  IN  INDIAN  EDUCATION  127 

cowardly  murders  than  an  equal  number  of  reservation  Indians 
anywhere,  and  except  for  a  few  level-headed  men  among  them,  the 
whole  tribe  would  have  shielded  and  protected  the  murderers. 

Reduced  to  a  logical  proposition,  the  claims  of  Rev.  Palladino  are 
simply  and  only : 

The  Government  must  civilize  the  Indians. 

The  only  way  to  civilize  the  Indians  is  to  teach  them  Christianity. 

The  Jesuits  can  teach  Christianity  better  and  cheaper  than  any 
other  people. 

Therefore  the  Government  must  employ  the  Jesuits  to  teach  the 
Indians  Christianity. 

But  everybody  knows  that  Buddhists,  Universalists  and  Baptists 
all  could  and  would  make  the  same  claims,  and  a  sufficient  answer  to 

all  is : 

The  appropriation  of  public  money  for  the  purpose  of  teaching 
any  religion  is  strictly  and  carefully  prohibited  by  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  and  the  laws  of  Montana  as  well,  and  attempts 
to  override  these  will  lead  to  continual  dissensions — useless  dissen- 
sions— for  whether  religion  is  good  or  otherwise  the  State  can  have 
nothing  to  do  with  it ;  and  the  end  must  be  obedience  to  the 

CONSTITUTION.* 

Helena,  December  20,  1891. 

REPLY 

We  shall  address  our  opponent  by  the  pseudonym  under  which 
he  bravely  and  patriotically  hides  himself,  only  adding,  at  the 
behest  of  civility  and  politeness,  the  prefix  "Mr."  to  "Constitu- 
tion," and  we  shall  limit  our  reply  to  the  salient  points  of  his 
article. 

We  dismiss  as  rather  "unconstitutional"  the  charge  that  the 
plain  and  impartial  expression  of  our  views  on  this  important 
subject  is  of  any,  still  less  "much  political  significance."  We  are 
too  little  and  too  utterly  insignificant  to  give  anything  we  may 
say,  do  or  write,  any  political  significance;  and  are,  besides, 
tolerably  well  known  for  the  last  twenty-five  years  to  the  people 
of  Montana,  for  them  to  even  dream  of  the  contrary.  Candidly, 
we  never  knew  that  there  was  any  politics  in  us,  until  Mr.  Con- 
stitution was  kind  enough  to  tell  us.     But,  perhaps,  the  political 

♦  We  have  been  creditably  informed  that  the  above  communication  came 
to  the  office  of  our  town  paper,  The  Journal,  from  Commissioner  Morgan's 
office,  Washington,  D.  C,  and  that  it  was  sent  to  The  Journal  already  set 
up  and  ready  for  the  press.    If  so,  what  of  the  date  it  carries? 


128        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

significance  of  this  discussion  will  be  found  to  be  on  the  side  of 
Mr.  Constitution  himself;  it  is  certainly  not  on  our  side. 

FATHER   DE   SMET   AND    HIS    CO-LABORERS. 

Mr.  Constitution  seems  not  to  feel  disposed  to  "belittle  the 
heroism  and  devotion  of  those  Fathers,  like  De  Smet  and  his 
contemporaries,  who  sacrificed  their  lives  in  the  wilderness  at 
the  behest  of  their  religion  and  to  benefit  mankind.  But,"  asks 
he,  "what  monument  is  left  of  their  work  other  than  their  fame 
and  valuable  church  property  ?  Where  are  the  Indians  they  have 
lifted  from  barbarism?"  How  a  Father  De  Smet  and  others  like 
him  can  be  said  to  have  benefited  mankind,  and  yet  left  nothing 
of  their  work  other  than  their  fame;  or  how  they  could  have 
obtained  fame  without  accomplishing  any  work  worthy  of  fame, 
is  more  than  we  can  understand.  "What  monument  is  left  of 
their  work?"  Is  it  disingenuousness  or  ignorance  that  prompts 
the  question?  We  may  point  to  one  such  monument.  In  the 
endless  history  of  Indian  wars  that  have  cost  the  United  States 
Treasury  millions  of  dollars  and  the  nation  thousands  of  lives 
can  Mr.  Constitution  tell  us  of  a  single  one  that  was  brought 
about  by  Catholic  Indians?  This  monument  of  peace  erected 
by  Christianity  and  its  ministers,  by  Father  De  Smet  and  his 
confreres,  is  equivalent  to  many,  and  in  the  minds  of  thinking 
people,  it  alone  should  suffice  to  show  that  non-sectarianism  is 
a  very  poor  substitute  for  Catholic  Christianity  in  the  work  of 
Indian  education. 

CATHOLIC  INDIAN   MISSIONS  IN   CALIFORNIA,   ETC. MORAL 

SUASION    AND    NON-SECTARIAN    METHODS. 

Mr.  Constitution's  disparaging  reference  to  the  mission  system 
of  Indian  civilization,  as  exemplified  in  the  rise  and  fall  of  the 
Catholic  Indian  missions  in  Paraguay,  Mexico,  and  particularly 
in  California,  is  a  most  unfortunate  one  for  his  cause.  No  one 
who  is  at  all  familiar  with  the  history  of  those  missions  can 
hesitate  to  admit  that  the  interference  of  the  Government  alone 
crushed  and  destroyed  them.  It  was  the  non-sectarianism  of  the 
Mexican  Government  that  brought  about  this  work  of  ruin  and 
desolation  in  California.  The  Catholic  missionaries  were  driven 
away,  the  administration  was  secularized,  and  the  poor,  unfortu- 
nate Indians,  who  were  Christians,  industrious  and  happy  under 


m. 


jgmM 


****    --  .-#• 


■ 


Class  in  Calisthenics,  St.  Paul's  Mission 


St.  Xavier  Church,  Crow  Indian  Mission 


Ursuline  Nuns  with  Indian  Pupils 


NON-SECTARIANISM  IN  INDIAN  EDUCATION  129 

the  mission  system,  were  driven  back  by  the  anti-religious  policy 
of  the  Mexican  Government  to  a  condition  of  poverty,  wretched- 
ness and  barbarism  even  worse  than  that  from  which  they  had 
been  rescued  by  Christianity. 

"Catholic  missionaries  brought  the  tribes  of  Mexico  and 
California  under  the  most  perfect  control,  and  kept  them  so," 
says  Bartlett,  an  authority  above  suspicion.  "And  how  was  this 
done  ?  Not  by  the  sword,  nor  by  treaty,  nor  by  presents,  nor  by 
unscrupulous  Indian  agents,  prepared  to  sacrifice  the  poor 
creatures  without  remorse  for  their  own  sinister  ends.  The 
Indian  was  taught  Christianity  with  many  of  the  arts  of 
civilized  life,  and  how  to  sustain  himself  by  his  labor.  By  this 
means  the  Society  of  Jesus  accomplished  more  toward  amelio- 
rating the  condition  of  the  Indians  than  the  United  States  had 
done  since  the  settlement  of  the  country."* 

"But  moral  suasion,"  says  Mr.  Constitution,  "was  futile  to 
retain  the  thousands  of  Indian  converts  who  would  no  longer 
be  persuaded  to  make  soap,  mould  bricks,  weave  wool,  sing 
Latin  hymns,  and  repeat  mediaeval  prayers."  But,  dear  Mr. 
Constitution,  how  would  you  have  those  poor,  unfortunate 
Indians  continue  to  be  persuaded,  when  the  one  efficient  cause 
of  persuasion  was  no  longer  among  them — when  the  ministers 
of  Christianity,  who  had  persuaded  them  from  barbarism  into  an 
industrious  Christian  life,  and  who  alone  could  persuade  them  to 
remain  in  it,  were  driven  away  ?  How  innocent  is  Mr.  Constitu- 
tion's statement  that  "many  of  the  priests  went  back  to  Mexico." 
You  need  not  tell  us,  after  this,  that  the  Indians  returned  to  their 
hillsides,  to  their  grasshoppers,  etc.  It  could  not  be  otherwise; 
and  it  would  be  well  for  the  authors  and  advocates  of  non- 
sectarianism  in  Indian  education  to  bear  in  mind,  that  like  causes 
must  needs  produce  like  effects. 

"If  those  missions  have  come  to  nought,"!  "if  we  must  seek  in 
vain  for  the  results  of  their  toil  and  sacrifices, "+  the  failure  is 
not  to  be  ascribed  to  the  men  who  created  them,  nor  to  their 
system,  any  more  than  we  can  ascribe  want  of  skill  to  an  Apelles 

*  Bartlett,  Personal  Narrative,  2,  92,  432. 

t  Kip,  Jesuit  Missions,  3. 

%  Parkman,  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  48. 


130       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

or    a    Zeusis,    because    their    masterpieces    of    art    have    been 

destroyed.? 

Scarcely  a  score  of  years  ago  a  maddened  commune  in  Paris 
pulled  down,  burned  and  destroyed  some  of  the  finest  monuments 
ever  erected  by  the  genius  of  man,  real  treasures  of  everything 
noble,  beautiful  and  grand.  But  because  today  the  wayfarer's 
foot  treads  on  the  vacant  lots  where  the  noble  piles  were  reared 
and  stood  and  were  inspected  and  admired  every  day  of  the  year 
by  thousands  of  visitors  from  every  corner  of  the  earth,  will  Mr. 
Constitution  argue  that  those  magnificent  monuments  of  archi- 
tecture and  art  have  never  existed,  or  that  they  were  not  what 
they  were,  simply  because  they  are  no  more,  having  been  made  to 
disappear  in  smoke  by  the  incendiary  torch  of  the  anti-religious 
and  non-sectarian  rabble  of  Paris  ? 

"Those  missions,"  says  an  eminent  historian,  "were  among 
the  noblest  works  of  men;  in  the  degree  that  we  admire  the 
zealous  men  who  filled  Florida,  Texas  and  California  with 
Christian  villages  must  we  stamp  with  every  brand  of  ignominy 
and  disgrace  the  men  and  the  policy  which  destroyed  them  and 
drove  their  inmates  back  into  barbarism."! 

INDIAN    NATURE    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES    TREASURY. 

But  "the  United  States  Government,"  we  are  told,  "appro- 
priates large  sums  of  money  for  Indian  education  for  the  express 
purpose  and  to  the  end  that  'Indian  life,'  as  distinguished  from 
the  life  of  the  other  people  of  the  United  States,  should  disappear 
entirely  and  as  speedily  as  may  be."  We  simply  reply  that  all  the 
millions  in  the  United  States  Treasury  are  insufficient  to  bring 
this  about,  and  that  so  long  as  there  is  an  Indian  alive,  he  will 
live  more  or  less  according  to  his  Indian  nature.  Scarcely  a 
week  ago,  chief  Chariot,  now  on  the  Jocko,  insisted  with  the 
authorities  on  the  reservation  that  none  of  the  boys  of  his  band 
should  attend  school  if  their  hair  is  to  be  shorn.  You  may  talk 
"High  School"  to  these  people  to  your  heart's  content;  you  may 
talk  patriotism ;  you  may  seek  as  much  as  you  please  to  "initiate 
them  into  the  laws  of  the  great  natural  forces,"  etc.,  but  they 
are  Indians,  they  have  the  Indian  nature,  and  even  an  old-time 

f  Shea,  Catholic  American  Missions,  120. 


NON-SECTARIANISM  IN  INDIAN  EDUCATION  131 

pagan  tells  you  that:  Naturam  expellas  furca,  tamen  usque 
recurret.  And  certainly  the  white  man's  conduct  in  general,  and 
that  of  some  Government  officials  in  particular,  in  their  dealings 
with  the  Indians,  has  never  been  such  as  to  make  the  red  men 
fall  in  love  with  our  ways  and  manners. 

CATHOLICS  AND   CONTRACT   SCHOOLS. 

To  the  charge  that  the  Catholics  have  had  nearly  three-fourths 
of  the  contract  school  appropriation,  we  answer  in  the  words  of 
Senator  Teller:  "There  has  been,"  says  the  Senator,  "a  good 
deal  of  complaint  in  the  country  that  the  Catholic  Church  had 
monopolized  a  large  portion  of  the  educational  facilities  for  the 
Indians.  I  have  no  affinity  with  the  Catholic  Church;  all  my 
connections,  all  my  teachings  and  associations  have  been  the 
other  way.  I  have  observed,  though,  that  the  Catholics  have 
been  the  most  successful  educators  of  the  Indians  of  any  people 
in  the  country."* 

In  the  testimony,  then,  of  Senator  Teller,  the  Catholics  have 
had  more  contract  schools  because  they  have  been  more  successful 
in  educating  the  Indians.  But  not  only  have  Catholics  been  more 
successful,  they  have  been  so  at  less  cost  to  the  Government. 
"They  have  sent  men  to  the  Indians,"  says  Senator  Jones,  of 
Arkansas,  "who  were  willing  to  devote  their  lives  and  go  among 
these  wild  people  for  the  purpose  of  doing  good ;  and  I  respect- 
fully submit  that  they  will  more  earnestly  and  devotedly  put  in 
their  days  and  their  nights  in  this  work  than  any  class  of  mere 
hirelings  who  go  there  for  the  salary.  A  large  majority  of  these 
people  go  practically  without  salaries.  This  thing  ought  not  to 
be  overlooked,  and  it  ought  not  to  be  neglected;  and  when  we 
are  making  provision  for  these  schools  if  we  intend  this  civilizing 
shall  be  effective  and  shall  accomplish  something  substantial,  I 
think  these  cheap  schools,  the  contract  schools  that  have  done  so 
much  to  build  up  not  only  the  intelligence  of  the  Indians,  but 
their  morals,  ought  to  be  cordially  and  heartily  sustained  by  the 
Government,  and  ought  not  to  be  criticised,  and  we  ought  not  to 
allow  any  mere  feelings  of  partisan  bias  and  sectarian  prejudice 
to  influence  us  to  legislate  against  one  denomination  simply 
because  it  has  shown  a  disposition  to  go  further  and  spend  more 
money  and  more  labor,  and  exercise  more  thought  and  diligence 

*  Congressional  Record,  July  25,  1890. 


i32        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

in  the  development  of  this  great  work  than  any  other  denomi- 
nation has  done."    Thus  Senator  Jones,  of  Arkansas. 

"And  again,"  says  the  same  Senator,  "the  point  I  was 
endeavoring  to  get  the  Senators'  attention  to  was  this — that  this, 
it  seems  to  me,  cannot  in  any  sense  be  called  a  Government  aid 
to  these  schools.  If  the  Government  spent  money  as  economically 
and  as  judiciously  as  it  is  expended  in  these  contract  schools  (for 
these  contract  schools  educate  the  Indians  for  less  money  than 
the  Government  can  do  it)  so  far  from  being  a  benefit  conferred 
by  the  Government  upon  the  schools,  it  is  a  benefit  conferred  by 
the  schools  upon  the  Government  by  that  much  money  saved. 
The  reports  which  I  have  called  attention  to  here  this  morning, 
covering  ten  pages,  will  show  that  the  average  expense  of  the 
Government  schools  is  about  twice  as  much  as  the  cost  to  the 
Government  of  the  same  work  done  by  these  people  under  con- 
tract."* 

Mr.  Constitution,  of  course,  condemns  all  contract  schools. 
But,  suppose  that  such  were  not  the  case,  would  he  approve  of 
Indian  schools  being  assigned  to  this  or  that  denomination 
regardless  of  their  success?  Would  he  give  "the  largest  school 
facilities  for  the  Indians"  to  the  less  successful  Indian  educators? 
We  are  satisfied  that  he  would  never  conduct  his  own  private 
business  or  his  family  affairs  on  such  principles.  Why  should 
he,  then,  approve  of  the  Government  doing  so?  "These  Catholic 
people,"  says  Senator  Call,  "in  the  matter  of  Indian  education 
have,  perhaps,  taken  the  lead  in  respect  to  numbers.  But  what- 
ever they  have  done  they  have  come  honestly  by,  and  they  have 
done  a  work  which  neither  the  Government  nor  any  other  people 
would  have  done.  Now,  is  it  to  be  said,"  continues  the  Senator, 
"that  because  the  Catholics  have  educated  more  of  the  Indians, 
have  established  more  stations  for  education,  therefore,  they 
shall  be  deprived  of  the  work  because  they  have  an  undue  share 
of  what? — of  the  performance  of  a  duty  of  the  Government, 
which  the  Government  asked  them  to  perform,  and  which  the 
morality  and  Christianity  of  the  day  demand  should  be  performed 
by  somebody."* 

*  Congressional  Record,  July  2$,  1890. 


NON-SECTARIANISM  IN  INDIAN  EDUCATION  133 

CONTRACT  SCHOOLS  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES  CONSTITUTION. 

But  particular  stress  is  laid  by  the  anonymous  writer  on  the 
fact  that  "the  appropriation  of  public  money  for  the  purpose  of 
teaching  any  religion  is  strictly  and  carefully  prohibited  by  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  by  the  laws  of  Montana 
as  well."  We  know  it,  and  heartily  approve  of  it;  but  we  must 
emphatically  fdeny  that  to  put  breeches  on  satis  culottes,  to 
shelter  them,  to  feed  them ;  to  teach  people  to  be  farmers,  black- 
smiths, carpenters ;  to  instruct  and  enable  them  to  make  a  living 
by  honest  toil,  is  to  teach  religion.  Who  in  the  world,  except  he 
be  out  of  his  wits,  can  or  will  say  that  to  teach  these  things  is  to 
teach  religion?  And  if  to  teach  these  matters  is  not  to  teach 
religion,  how,  in  the  name  of  plain,  common  sense,  can  it  be 
asserted  that  the  Government  cannot  contract  to  have  them 
taught ;  or  if  it  contracts  to  have  them  taught,  that  it  appropriates, 
against  the  Constitution,  public  money  to  teach  religion?  Why, 
then,  may  not  the  Government  employ  me,  like  any  one  else,  to 
teach  them,  if  I  do  the  teaching  equally  as  well?  And  if  my 
religion  be  a  help  to  me  to  fill  the  task  better  and  more  success- 
fully, what  folly  is  it  not  to  bid  me  lay  aside  that  which  helps 
me  render  better  and  more  efficient  service?  Has,  then,  non- 
sectarianism  or  the  hatred  of  religion  and  Christianity  in  this 
enlightened  age  of  humanitarianism,  philanthropy,  progress, 
civilization  and  freedom  of  conscience,  come  to  this — that  because 
I  happen  to  be  a  Christian,  a  Catholic,  a  priest  or  a  Religious, 
and,  in  spite  of  the  better  and  more  efficient  service  that  because 
of  my  religious  belief  and  practice  I  am  able  to  render,  I  should 
be  disqualified  as  an  employee  of  the  Government?  What  could 
be  narrower,  more  bigoted,  more  unjust? 

"I  have  no  patience  with  this  sectarian  talk,"  said  Senator 
Davis  on  the  floor  of  the  United  States  Senate,  July  25,  1890. 
"This  Government  is  not  making  itself  a  party  to  any  denomina- 
tion in  this  business.  This  is  a  business,  and  a  business  of  a 
serious  character.  The  Government,  taking  advantage  in  the 
wilderness  of  the  facilities  which  these  pioneers  of  Christianity 
have  created  for  it,  proposes  merely  to  allow  the  Indian  children 
to  enjoy  the  hospitality  and  nurture  of  these  men  and  women." 

*  Congressional  Record,  July  25,  1890. 


* 


134       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

"I  insist,"  said  Senator  Call  on  the  same  occasion,  "that  there 
is  no  kind  of  foundation  for  the  proposition  that  because  the 
Government  contracts  with  a  Religious  Order  to  educate  children, 
to  teach  them  arithmetic,  their  letters,  writing,  and  to  give  them, 
if  necessary  an  education  in  the  different  trades  and  pursuits, 
that  because  the  Government  contracts  with  a  religious  organiza- 
tion, therefore,  they  are  maintaining  an  established  religion."* 

But,  then,  ask  we,  was  it  not  the  Government  itself  that  under 
the  Peace  Policy  of  President  Grant  proclaimed  the  necessity  of 
religion  in  the  cause  of  Indian  education  and  sought  its  help,  by 
calling  upon  the  different  churches  to  assist  the  Government  in 
the  work?  "This  proclamation,"  says  Senator  Call,  "has  been 
made  by  the  Government  in  the  very  legislation  of  the  country 
and  in  the  policy  which  has  been  pursued  for  years  by  the  Interior 
Department,  with  the  approval  of  each  Congress  that  has  met." 
Now,  contract  schools  are,  or  are  not  against  the  United  States 
Constitution.  If  you  say  they  are,  you  must  admit  that  the 
legislation  and  policy  of  the  country  has  been  in  opposition  to 
the  Federal  Constitution  for  years.  If  you  say  they  are  not, 
then  your  plea  for  non-sectarianism  in  Indian  education  is  a 
fraud,  since  it  rests  on  a  falsehood. 

And  further,  were  there  in  these  contract  schools  and  like 
institutions  anything  contrary  to  the  letter  or  spirit  of  the  United 
States  Constitution,  would  the  Know-nothings  of  the  day  be  so 
busy,  as  they  seem  just  now  to  be,  to  have  Congress  pass  an 
amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution  for  no  other  purpose 
than  to  make  these  schools  and  similar  institutions  "unconstitu- 
tional ?"  But  why  not  advocate  as  well  an  amendment  to  abolish 
the  Constitution  itself?  If  more  radical  and  more  un-American, 
these  anti-Catholic  organizations  are  at  least  less  inconsistent. 

THE   FLAT   HEADS. 

Mr.  Constitution  charges  the  Flat  Heads  with  having  "  com- 
mitted in  the  last  five  years  more  cowardly  murders  than  an  equal 
number  of  reservation  Indians  anywhere."  We  brand  the 
assertion  as  an  atrocious  slander  on  that  much  maligned  tribe  of 
peaceful  Indians,  and  challenge  Mr.  Constitution  to  substantiate 
the  charge  that  any  Flat  Head  was  implicated  in  or  connected 

*  Congressional  Record,  same  date. 


NON-SECTARIANISM  IN  INDIAN  EDUCATION  135 

with  the  murders  referred  to.  It  has  been  the  proud,  and  we 
believe  also  truthful  boast,  of  these  Indians  that  none  of  their 
tribe  has  ever  spilled  the  blood  of  a  white  man.  Were  the 
murderers  Flat  Heads  because  the  crimes  were  committed  within 
the  limits  of  the  reservation  of  that  name?  Are  there  not  on 
that  reservation  Kootenays,  Kalispels,  Pend  d'Oreilles,  Spo- 
kanes,  and  Nez  Perces? 

This  charge,  however,  has  been  anticipated  above,  where  we 
mentioned  these  very  crimes,  the  names  of  their  authors  and  some 
of  the  extenuating  circumstances  under  which  the  crimes  were 
perpetrated.  We  simply  add  here  to  our  own  statement  about 
those  Indian  criminals,  that  all  four  were  non-Christians,  having 
spurned  all  the  influences  of  religion  until  the  gallows  and  the 
hangman  were  in  sight. 

Mr.  Constitution  concludes  by  saying:  "The  claims  of  Rev. 
Palladino  are  simply  and  only,  'The  Government  must  civilize 
the  Indians.'  " 

We  never  committed  ourselves  to  such  an  assertion.  On  the 
contrary,  we  say  that  the  Government  must  not  civilize  them, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  the  Government  cannot  do  it.  What 
we  asserted,  or  what  naturally  follows  from  our  argument  is 
this:  If  these  wards  of  the  nations  are  to  be  civilized,  the  neces- 
sary means  to  that  end  must  be  adopted;  but  Christianity  is 
necessary;  therefore,  the  Government  must  not  seek  to  exclude 
it.  To  seek  the  end  and  exclude  at  the  same  time  the  means 
necessary  to  the  end,  is  not  the  work  of  reason,  but  of  madness. 
And  since  Christianity's  necessary  means  to  civilize  the  Indians 
cannot  be  had  outside  of  Christianity  itself,  the  Government 
must  either  enlist  in  the  cause  the  services  of  Christianity,  or  be 
doomed  to  utter  failure  in  its  attempt  to  civilize  the  Indian. 
"The  alternative  is  here,"  declared  Senator  Call  in  the  United 
States  Senate,  July  25,  1890,  "you  must  either  employ  these 
churches  or  you  cannot  educate  these  Indians." 

"The  only  way  to  civilize  the  Indians,"  continues  Mr.  Consti- 
tution," is  to  teach  them  Christianity."  That  is,  to  civilize  them 
morally  and  intellectually,  yes;  to  civilize  them  also  materially, 
the  means  and  instruments  of  material  civilization  are  also 
required.  This  is  evident,  as  the  means  must  be  proportionate 
to  the  end.     What  we  maintain  is,  that  you  cannot  civilize  the 


136        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

Indian  independently  of  Christianity.     Show  us  that  you  can; 
point  to  one  solitary  instance  to  the  contrary,  and  we  give  in. 

"But  the  Jesuits,"  says  Mr.  Constitution,  "can  teach  Christian- 
ity better  and  cheaper  than  any  other  people."  Not  exactly,  sir. 
The  Jesuits  have  never  pretended  to  teach  Christianity  better 
than  any  other  duly  authorized  preachers  of  Christianity.  As 
to  the  cheaper  part,  we  almost  feel  inclined  to  say,  yes,  for  the 
simple  reason  that  the  Jesuit  binds  himself  by  most  sacred  vows 
to  receive  no  salary,  no  compensation  or  remuneration  of  any 
kind  whatever  for  the  exercise  of  the  Christian  ministry.  But 
the  question  here  is  not  exactly  of  Jesuits,  it  is  of  the  Catholic 
Church;  and,  therefore,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  suppose,  Mr. 
Constitution,  that  the  Catholic  Church  were  the  only  one  that 
could  really  civilize  these  Indians ;  or  that  it  could  do  it  as  well 
as  anybody  else  and  at  less  cost  and  expense  to  the  Government, 
what  would  economy,  sound  policy,  true  statesmanship  and  plain 
common  sense  suggest?  To  throw  the  people's  money  away,  and 
pay  more  for  what  you  can  secure  at  less  cost?  What  becomes, 
then,  of  the  principle  that  underlies  all  American  legislation  with 
regard  to  the  expenditure  of  public  funds? 

"But  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  now  one  of  the 
richest  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  with  an  overflowing  treasury," 
says  Commissioner  Morgan  in  his  official  Report  of  1890,"  has 
at  its  command  unlimited  means  and  can  undertake  and  complete 
this  work  (the  non-sectarian  civilization  and  education  of  the 
Indians  according  to  the  gentleman's  plans)  without  feeling  it  in 
any  degree  a  burden"  .  .  .  "The  Commissioner,"  comments 
Senator  Jones,  of  Arkansas,  "seems  to  have  been  impressed  with 
the  thought  that  the  Government  has  an  overflowing  treasury 
which  is  absolutely  inexhaustible,  and  that  one  of  his  duties  was 
to  get  as  much  money  out  of  it  as  possible."* 

If  the  aim,  then,  of  the  non-sectarian  system  of  Indian  educa- 
tion devised  by  Commissioner  Morgan  and  so  warmly  advocated 
by  Mr.  Constitution,  is  simply  to  spend  money,  we  have  nothing 
more  to  say.  But  we  submit  that  the  millions  could  be  spent  less 
unprofitably  and  less  inconsistently  in  chasing  a  wild  goose,  than 
in  futile  attempts  to  civilize  the  Indians  independently  of 
Christianity. 

*  Congressional  Record,  July  25,  1890. 


NON-SECTARIANISM  IN  INDIAN  EDUCATION  137 

But  enough  of  this.  Let  us  return  to  our  narrative  and  see 
exemplified  the  system  of  educating  the  red  men  which  we  advo- 
cate. Its  acknowledged  success  will  be  the  best  commendation 
of  its  merits.  We  resume,  then,  the  local  history  of  St.  Ignatius 
and  pass  on  to  speak  of  its  schools,  the  first  Industrial  Boarding 
Schools  for  Indians  established  in  the  Northwest. 


Chapter  XVIII. 

THE  FIRST  SISTERS  IN  MONTANA  AND  THE  FIRST  INDIAN 
BOARDING   SCHOOL    IN    THE    NORTHWEST. 

WE  have  already  mentioned  that  as  early  as  1863  the  first 
steps  had  been  taken  by  Father  J.  Giorda  and  Father  U. 
Grassi  toward  opening  an  Indian  Boarding  School  at  St. 
Ignatius,  and  that  some  Sisters  of  Providence  from  Montreal 
had  been  obtained  for  the  purpose.  We  must  now  follow  this 
little  band  of  heroic  women,  these  pioneer  Sisters  of  Montana, 
and  briefly  summarize  their  long  journey  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains. 

The  little  colony  consisted  of  four,  namely,  Sister  Mary  of  the 
Infant  Jesus,  the  head  of  the  band,  Sister  Mary  Edward,  Sister 
Paul  Miki  and  Sister  Remi.  They  left  the  motherhouse,  in 
Montreal,  June  1,  1864,  and  going  by  the  way  of  New  York,  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama  and  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  arrived  at  Van- 
couver, Wash.,  on  July  11,  where  they  spent  some  time,  heartily 
welcomed  by  the  members  of  their  own  community,  who  had 
a  foundation  there  since  December,  1856.  Father  Giorda,  the 
Superior  of  the  Indian  Missions  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  soon 
after  came  to  meet  them  with  Father  G.  Gazzoli.  Arrangements 
were  now  made  for  the  Sisters'  band  to  proceed  to  Walla  Walla, 
which  was  at  this  time  the  outfitting  and  starting  point  for  all 
travel  to  the  upper  country.  The  Sisters  of  Providence  had 
already  founded  an  establishment  here. 

By  the  17th  of  September  all  preparations  for  the  journey 
had  been  made.  The  day  happened  to  be  the  eve  of  the 
feast  of  Our  Lady  of  Sorrows,  the  principal  festival  of  the  Order 
of  Providence,  and  both  our  travelers  and  their  Walla  Walla 
Sisters  would  have  much  preferred  to  postpone  the  departure  at 
least  another  day.  But  Father  Giorda  was  of  a  different  mind : 
"Everything  is  now  ready,"  said  he,  "and  if  we  put  off  making 
a  start  today,  we  shall  have  to  go  through  our  long  preparations 
once  more;  let  us  go."     Little  sweets  could  not  detain  brave 


THE  FIRST  SISTERS  IN  MONTANA  139 

souls  prepared  for  big  crosses.  Father  Giorda  made  the  sign  of 
the  Cross  and  set  out,  leading  the  way. 

The  party  consisted  of  the  four  Sisters,  Fathers  J.  Giorda, 
G.  Gazzoli  and  F.  X.  Kuppens,  the  rear  being  brought  up  by  two 
good  Irishmen,  who  were  in  charge  of  a  large  prairie  schooner, 
a  kind  of  Noah's  ark  on  wheels,  loaded  with  luggage  and  other 
effects  for  the  caravan,  as  well  as  with  provisions  for  the  Cceur 
d'Alenes  Mission.  They  had  gone  but  a  short  distance  when 
"the  big  thing"  stood,  stuck  fast  in  a  mud  hole,  whence  it  proved 
no  easy  task  to  release  it.  Some  six  miles  from  town  the  party 
went  into  camp,  and  after  pitching  their  tents,  partook  of  a 
rustic  meal  served  on  the  ground.  Sister  Paul  Miki,  being  rather 
delicate,  was  the  only  one  whose  appetite  had  not  been  sharpened 
by  the  outing  and  exercise  of  the  day.  She  felt  fatigued  and, 
without  eating  a  morsel,  retired  to  rest  her  weary  frame  on  a 
blanket  spread  on  the  ground,  and  her  aching  head  on  a  saddle, 
which  in  miner's  style  was  now  doing  her  service  as  a  pillow. 

The  next  morning  the  Sisters  were  happy;  the  delicate  one 
felt  better,  and  Father  Giorda  had  told  them  that  they  would 
celebrate  their  great  festival  in  the  woods  with  Mass  and  Holy 
Communion.  The  devotions  over,  they  had  their  second  camp 
meal  and,  again  mounting  their  horses,  set  out  for  a  somewhat 
longer  ride  than  the  one  of  the  previous  day. 

Riding  horseback  and  camping  out  were  now,  day  after  day, 
the  Sisters'  occupations  for  a  whole  month.  They  were  fatigued 
at  first,  being  entirely  unused  to  this  manner  of  traveling,  but 
they  soon  became  accustomed  to  it,  and  the  more  they  traveled, 
the  better  they  liked  it.  Thus,  by  a  benevolent  law  of  compensa- 
tion, while  the  difficulties  and  hardships  increased  with  the  jour- 
ney, determination  and  courage  were  augmented  in  the  same 
proportion,  and  the  Sisters  were  really  more  fatigued  and  jaded 
at  the  beginning  than  at  the  end  of  their  course. 

On  the  morning  of  the  third  day  their  mounts  were  to  be  seen 
nowhere  around.  Father  Kuppens  and  the  two  Irishmen  started 
out  to  look  for  the  strays,  and  did  not  return  till  late  in  the 
evening.  The  animals  had  made  their  way  back  toward  the  town, 
and  were  only  overtaken  in  its  vicinity.  To  be  left  afoot  by  the 
horses  running  off  during  the  night  was  a  very  common  occur- 
rence to  travelers  in  this  part  of  the  country.     We  passed  over 


140       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

the  same  trail  just  three  years  after  and  were  left  in  the  same 
predicament  several  times.  No  one  but  those  who  have  experi- 
enced it,  can  realize  how  annoying,  and  how  full  of  anxiety  it  is 
to  be  left  on  foot,  sometimes  a  hundred  and  more  miles  away 
from  every  habitation.  This  was  often  the  case  late  in  the  fall, 
when  good  camping  places  along  the  beaten  trail  were  not  to  be 
found,  owing  to  scarcity  of  grass  or  lack  of  water.  As  the 
animals  could  neither  be  picketed  nor  hobbled  on  such  grounds, 
they  would,  naturally,  stray  and  strike  out  for  some  better 
pasture. 

On  the  following  day  our  party  had  to  draw  rather  heavily  on 
their  store  of  good  humor  to  keep  up  their  spirits.  One  of  the 
Sisters  when  about  to  get  on  the  saddle,  was  severely  kicked  by 
one  of  the  horses.  However,  notwithstanding  the  brute's  vicious 
compliment,  she  was  soon  able  to  resume  her  journey,  and  kept 
up  with  the  rest,  though  not  without  considerable  suffering 
through  the  whole  day.  It  was  late  that  evening  when  they  went 
into  camp  and  pitched  their  tents  for  the  night.  The  place  was 
a  sandy  desert  with  no  grass  for  the  horses,  and  the  scanty  meal 
of  our  travelers  had  been  spoiled  by  over-seasoning,  that  is,  a 
sudden  gust  of  wind  had  salted  and  peppered  everything  with 
sand,  dust,  and  all  manner  of  unpalatable  ingredients.  To  add 
to  their  discomfort  they  found  it  hard  work  to  stay  their  tents 
against  the  wind,  and  keep  them  from  being  blown  down  over 
their  heads.  As  a  consequence,  they  had  little  if  any  sleep  at  all 
that  night,  the  wind  blowing  a  furious  gale  the  whole  time. 

On  reaching  the  banks  of  the  Spokane  river  they  were  met  by 
Seltis,  the  chief  of  the  Cceur  d'Alenes  Indians.  He  joined  the 
party  and  accompanied  them,  as  their  escort,  the  entire  day.  On 
the  29th  they  came  to  the  shores  of  Lake  Cceur  d'Alenes,  and  here 
the  clouds  commenced  to  pour  down  rain  upon  our  travelers. 
But  they  were  not  greatly  inconvenienced,  as  they  soon  found 
their  tents  a  timely  shelter  from  the  storm. 

There  now  lay  before  the  pilgrims  thirty-five  miles  of  rough 
mountain  road,  or  sixty  miles  by  water,  to  reach  the  Cceur 
d'Alenes  Mission.  As  the  big  prairie  schooner  could  not  be  taken 
any  further  than  their  present  camping  place,  it  had  been 
previously  arranged  that  the  Mission's  raft  or  flat  boat,  and  a 
number   of    pack   animals    for    the    transportation    of   persons, 


THE  FIRST  SISTERS  IN  MONTANA  141 

baggage,  and  provisions,  would  meet  the  caravan  at  this  point. 
The  boat  not  being  large  enough  to  take  both  persons  and  cargo, 
the  Sisters  were  to  go  by  water,  while  the  goods  could  be 
freighted  on  pack  horses  over  the  mountain  trail. 

To  perfect  these  arrangements  Father  Gazzoli  had  left  the  party 
a  few  days  before.  It  was,  therefore,  expected  that  by  the  time 
our  travelers  would  arrive  at  the  lake,  the  transportation  would 
also  be  there.  But  they  were  disappointed,  nothing  of  the  kind 
being  in  sight.  While  the  rest  of  the  party  were  to  remain  in 
their  present  camping  place,  Father  Giorda  himself  set  out  for 
the  Mission  and  arrived  there  before  Father  Gazzoli.  For  the 
latter  had  been  left  afoot  because  of  his  horse  running  away 
from  him.  He  had  to  walk  two  whole  days  to  reach  the  Mission, 
and  when  he  arrived  he  seemed  more  than  half  starved  and 
utterly  exhausted.     His  mishap  explained  the  disappointment. 

Boat  and  pack  animals  for  the  party  at  the  lake  were  soon  in 
readiness.  Father  Caruana,  with  several  Indians,  took  the  horses 
over  the  trail,  arriving  at  the  camp  the  first  of  October  in  the 
evening;  while  chief  Edward  and  two  French  Canadians,  who 
manned  the  boat  down  the  river,  came  in  sight  on  the  morning  of 
the  next  day.  Before  long,  all  were  on  the  move  toward  the 
Mission.  Father  Caruana,  with  the  goods,  returning  by  the  trail, 
and  Father  Kuppens  and  the  Sisters  going  by  water.  The  latter 
had  scarcely  left  the  shore  to  cross  the  lake  when  a  strong  breeze 
sprang  up  and  for  awhile  boat,  passengers  and  crew  seemed  in 
danger.  They  crossed  safely,  however,  and  pursued  the  rest  of 
their  course  up  the  river  without  accident.  On  October  5  they 
landed  at  the  Mission,  the  river  bank  lined  with  Indians,  who 
were  eager  to  see  the  "lady  black  robes." 

After  two  days'  rest  the  Sisters  and  their  escort  set  out  again 
and  began  the  second  part  of  their  journey.  A  couple  of  Indians, 
Joseph  and  Adelaide,  his  wife,  sent  by  Father  Grassi  from  St. 
Ignatius,  had  come  to  meet  our  travelers,  and  proved  very  service- 
able, as  the  road  now  lay  through  thick  forests  over  the  Cceur 
d'Alene  Mountains.  Steep  ascents,  deep  ravines,  fallen  timber, 
streams  and  gulches,  lay  in  their  path,  and  the  difficulties  and 
inconveniences  of  the  travel  before  them  were  greater  than  any 
they  had  so  far  encountered.  But  the  brave  Sisters  were  inured 
by  this  time  to  all  manner  of  discomfort,  and  bore  these  troubles 


142        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

as  they  had  done  the  others,  not  only  without  complaint,  but  with 
a  buoyant  and  sparkling  cheerfulness.  They  prayed,  they  sang, 
they  chatted  as  they  went  along,  and  had  many  a  hearty  laugh 
over  the  incidents  of  the  road.  Father  Giorda  enjoyed  listening 
to  them  from  without,  when  all  by  themselves  under  their  tent 
they  seemed  to  overflow  with  good  humor  and  merriment  at  the 
happenings  of  the  day;  and  equally  as  good-humored  himself, 
he  would  say  to  his  companions  with  reference  to  the  Sisters ; 
"Birds  chirping  in  the  evening  bring  fair  weather  in  the  morn- 
ing." 

Whenever  they  happened  to  pass  the  night  near  an  Indian 
camp,  Father  Giorda's  zeal  was  remarkable  and  most  edifying. 
He  assembled  the  Indians  and  held  evening  devotions  with  them ; 
he  taught  them  their  catechism;  heard  their  confessions,  and  in 
the  morning  at  Mass  all  received  Holy  Communion.  On  one  of 
these  occasions  he  showed  himself  not  unversed  in  the  ways  of 
the  saints.  Though  the  party  had  replenished  their  "commissary" 
or  larder,  at  the  Cceur  d'Alene  Mission,  traveling  as  they  did  very 
slowly,  their  provisions  were  growing  light,  and  Father  Giorda 
feared  they  might  run  short  of  them  before  the  end  of  the 
journey.  Having  found  in  an  Indian  camp  an  old  man  extremely 
poor,  and  totally  blind,  he  brought  him  his  own  share  of  the 
evening's  repast,  and  lest  his  charity  should  entail  the  least 
privation  upon  the  others,  he  went  that  night  without  eating  a 
morsel  himself. 

Every  evening  he  gave  the  Sisters  the  points  for  their  morn- 
ing meditation,  the  exercise  being  preceded  by  a  pious  canticle 
and  the  subject  of  the  meditation  drawn  from  the  Sorrows  of 
Our  Blessed  Lady.  Thus  their  journey  to  the  Rocky  Mountains 
had  some  of  the  advantages  of  a  pilgrimage. 

In  the  afternoon  of  October  15  they  arrived  at  Frenchtown, 
the  first  white  settlement  they  had  seen  since  leaving  Walla 
Walla,  a  distance  of  400  miles.  The  heartiest  hospitality  was 
here  tendered  to  them  by  Louis  Brun,  more  commonly  known  as 
Louis  Brown,  a  French  Canadian,  and  his  wife,  a  fairly  civilized 
Indian  woman.  The  couple  had  been  married  by  Father  De 
Smet,  and  were  the  first  settlers  in  this  locality.  Words  cannot 
describe  the  surprise  and  pleasure  of  this  couple  at  meeting  the 
Sisters,  the  first  white  women  who  had  ever  crossed  the  Cceur 


THE  FIRST  SISTERS  IN  MONTANA  143 

d'Alene  Mountains.  A  month  later  Emily  and  Eliza,  the  old 
pioneer's  daughters,  were  among  the  first  pupils  of  the  Sisters 
at  St.  Ignatius. 

The  following  day,  October  16,  being  Sunday,  they  had  Mass 
in  the  little  log  church,  which  the  Fathers  had  recently  erected  in 
the  settlement.  In  the  afternoon,  taking  leave  of  their  kind 
hosts,  our  pilgrims  went  to  pitch  their  tents  at  the  mouth  of  what 
is  known  today  as  O'Keeffe's  Canyon,  some  seven  miles  north- 
east of  Frenchtown.  This  was  the  last  time  they  were  to  camp 
on  the  road.  "We  are  nearing  the  end  of  our  journey,"  remarked 
Father  Giorda  to  the  Sisters;  "the  trials  and  crosses  you  have 
thus  far  encountered  and  endured  are  not  to  be  compared  with 
those  that  await  you." 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  journey  the  Sisters  met  occasion- 
ally small  bands  of  prospectors  whose  amazement  at  their  pres- 
ence in  the  wilderness  reached  its  climax  when  they  heard  from 
the  Sisters  whither  they  were  going,  and  for  what  purpose : 
"No,"  these  miners  would  tell  them,  "you  will  never  stay  there. 
No  white  woman  could  ever  endure  living  in  such  surroundings." 

About  noon  on  the  17th  they  arrived  at  the  Agency,  where  a 
most  unexpected  reception  was  in  store  for  them.  The  surly 
agent  treated  both  Fathers  and  Sisters  with  worse  than  the 
coldest  indifference.  They  soon  withdrew  from  the  presence  of 
the  inhospitable  and  ungentlemanly  Government  official,  and 
continuing  on  their  way,  by  evening  they  were  at  the  end  of 
their  pilgrimage,  reaching  St.  Ignatius  just  one  month  from  the 
day  they  had  left  Walla  Walla. 

A  few  miles  from  the  Mission,  Joseph  and  Adelaide,  with 
their  two  sons,  Batiste  and  Lome,  whom  they  had  taken  along 
on  the  trip,  leaving  the  rest  of  the  party,  went  ahead  to  give  the 
news  to  the  camp.  When  the  Sisters  arrived,  they  found  all  the 
Indians  assembled  to  bid  them  welcome.* 

The  large  building  planned  by  Father  Grassi  for  the  new 
school  was  still  under  construction,  and  it  would  take  some 
months  yet  before  it  could  be  made  ready  for  occupancy.  But 
this  caused  no  delay;  nor  was  there  any  time  lost  on  the  part  of 

*  The  particulars  of  their  journey,  as  given  in  the  foregoing  part  of  this 
chapter  were  kindly  furnished  to  the  writer  by  the  Sisters  themselves. 


144        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

the  Sisters  in  beginning  active  work,  instructing  the  Indians. 
They  opened  a  school  upon  their  arrival  on  the  place. 

In  fact,  they  had  scarcely  set  foot  inside  their  temporary 
quarters,  when  they  were  already  engaged  in  educational  work 
of  various  kinds,  that  is,  sweeping,  cleaning,  washing,  scrubbing 
and  setting  to  rights,  generally,  what  little  furniture  there  was 
in  their  poorly  furnished  abode.  These  were  the  first  object- 
lessons  given  by  those  valiant  women  to  the  crowd  of  Indians, 
who  stood  round  in  open-eyed  wonderment.  Where  all  had  to 
be  learned,  all  also  needed  to  be  taught,  and  the  Sisters  began 
their  work,  truly,  from  the  beginning. 

The  Sisters'  daily  conduct,  while  furnishing  example  of  a 
superior  degree  of  refinement  and  of  every  virtue,  became  also 
the  most  persuasive  means  of  bringing  home  to  their  pupils' 
minds  the  knowledge  of  whatever  makes  for  the  proper  forma- 
tion of  character.  Is  there  a  better  system  of  educating  youth 
than  to  train  and  instruct  their  heads,  their  hearts,  no  less  than 
their  hands  by  the  force  of  example? 

The  preliminary  work  was  gradually  supplemented  by  the 
common  branches  in  English,  reading,  spelling,  writing,  and 
arithmetic,  class-room  exercises  being  made  to  go  hand-in-hand 
with  all  kinds  of  household  occupations,  laundry  and  dairy  work, 
baking,  cooking,  hand  sewing,  mending  and  making  garments, 
quilting,  darning,  etc.  To  these  were  added  practical  gardening, 
and  such  other  kinds  of  manual  labor  as  conditions  rendered 
necessary  or  useful.  Thus,  while  some  of  their  pupils  became 
proficient  and  even  expert  in  all  manner  of  domestic  industries, 
in  the  mysteries  of  the  needle,  in  cutting  and  fitting  garments, 
etc.,  they  could  likewise  handle  the  hoe,  the  shovel  and  rake,  and 
even  swing  an  axe  with  almost  the  ease  of  a  woodman. 

Indian  children  are  quick  to  learn,  quicker,  in  fact,  than  many 
a  white  child,  not  exactly  because  of  brighter  minds,  but  because 
of  fewer  things  to  distract  them.  A  Government  official  who 
had  come  one  day  to  inspect  the  school,  on  examining  the  class- 
work  of  the  pupils,  could  scarcely  believe  his  eyes,  as  he  told  the 
writer.  He  bethought  himself  that  some  clever  trick  was  being 
played  on  him  by  those  in  charge,  and  concluded  to  make  there 
and  then  a  test  that  should  expose  the  imposition.  Calling  up 
one  of  the  Indian  girls,  whose  copy  books  he  had  been  admiring, 


THE  FIRST  SISTERS  IN  MONTANA  145 

"Miss,"  said  he  to  her,  "will  you  write  me  a  letter  right  here, 
which  I  may  take  along  with  me,  as  an  evidence  of  your  own  pro- 
ficiency and  of  the  merit  of  the  school?"  "Certainly,  sir," 
answered  the  girl;  and  seating  herself  at  the  same  table,  wrote 
down  her  composition  on  her  slate  and  handed  it  to  the  gentle- 
man. He  was,  indeed,  surprised  at  the  promptness,  ease  and 
accuracy  with  which  the  Indian  girl  did  the  work.  But  one  word 
had  been  mispelled.  The  inspector  had  the  composition  put  on 
paper  in  the  girl's  own  hand  and  forwarded  it  to  Washington, 
D.  C,  with  his  official  report. 

Though  both  sexes  of  the  Indian  race  appear  to  possess  some 
liking  for  music,  only  the  women  are  capable  of  learning  how 
to  sing.  Many  of  these  have  a  correct  ear,  and  will  pick  up  an 
air  without  great  difficulty.  Their  voices,  though  rather  weak 
and  slender,  are  clear  and  pleasing,  whilst  a  note  of  plaintive 
sweetness  gives  their  singing  a  special  charm.  We  doubt 
whether  any  white  girls'  choir  anywhere  could  surpass  the 
Sisters'  choir  of  Indian  girls  at  St.  Ignatius. 

The  Right  Rev.  James  O'Connor,  Bishop  of  Omaha,  who 
visited  the  Mission  in  the  summer  of  1877,  writes  of  the  Indian 
school  at  St.  Ignatius  as  follows:  "In  this  school  the  ordinary 
branches  of  a  plain  education  are  taught.  Thank  goodness,  the 
'ologies  are  excluded.  All  the  pupils  are  taught  household  work 
and  gardening,  and  to  each  is  allotted  a  piece  of  ground  to  till. 
They  took  great  pride  in  showing  me  these  little  gardens  and 
insisted  on  my  tasting  their  strawberries,  which  were  the  largest 
and  most  luscious  I  had  ever  tasted.  Everyone  who  visits  con- 
vents knows  the  neatness  with  which  they  are  kept,  but  the  order 
and  cleanliness  of  this  house  surpassed  anything  of  the  kind  I 
have  ever  seen." 

With  the  opening  of  the  boarding  school  for  Indian  girls,  a 
school  was  also  provided  for  the  Indian  boys.  But  as  the 
Mission  had  not  the  means  to  house,  feed  and  clothe  all  the 
children,  the  facilities  provided  for  the  boys  were  only  those  of 
a  day  school.  The  venture  was  not  a  success,  for  the  reasons  set 
forth  above.  Day  schools  are  practically  useless  when  there  is 
question  of  the  Indian. 

The  gratifying  success  that  attended  the  boarding  school  for 
the  Indian  girls  emphasized  more  and  more  every  day  the  neces- 


146       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

sity  of  a  similar  school  for  Indian  boys.  But  whence  were  the 
means  to  come,  when  the  maintenance  of  the  girls'  school  alone 
was  already  proving  more  of  a  burden  than  the  limited  resources 
of  the  Mission  could  carry?  This,  in  fact,  had  now  become  a 
serious  problem,  so  much  so  that  the  Superiors  were  confronted 
with  the  alternative  of  closing  the  school,  or  of  making  an  appeal 
to  public  charity  for  its  support. 

The  latter  was  the  plan  resolved  upon  by  Father  Giorda. 
Accordingly  he  himself  now  started  out  with  two  of  the  Sisters 
to  solicit  contributions  from  the  ever-generous  miners  of 
Montana.  The  begging  party  went  from  one  mining  camp  to 
another,  throughout  the  whole  Territory,  the  good-hearted 
pioneers  responding  generously  to  the  appeal.  This  soliciting 
was  kept  up  for  several  years,  two  of  the  Sisters,  during  the 
mining  season,  going  out  to  beg  for  their  own,  and  their  pupils' 
sustenance.  Had  it  not  been  for  this,  the  school  would  have  had 
to  be  closed. 

Later  on,  as  we  shall  see  when  speaking  of  the  boys'  school, 
the  U.  S.  Government  made  a  small  allowance  for  a  specified 
number  of  pupils.  From  that  date  the  institution  ceased  to  be  a 
burden  to  the  general  public,  and  its  capacity  for  usefulness  was 
also  considerably  widened;  as  substantial  improvements  became 
now  possible,  the  school  continued  to  advance  year  by  year. 

The  present  faculty  of  the  school  consists  of  fourteen  members 
of  the  Order  of  Providence,  and  the  girls  in  their  keeping  have 
ranged  in  numbers  from  120  to  140. 

Besides  teaching  and  caring  for  their  pupils,  these  good 
Sisters  do  much  charitable  work  among  the  Indians  in  the  camp. 
They  visit  the  sick,  prepare  medicine  and  proper  nourishment 
for  them,  and  teach  the  Indian  women  to  tend  and  care  for  any 
sick  of  the  family. 

After  several  years  of  toil  and  patient  endurance  in  the  cause 
of  Indian  education,  two  of  the  four  pioneer  Sisters  of  Montana 
and  co-founders  of  the  school  went  to  their  rest.  Sister  Paul 
Miki  passed  to  the  Lord  on  December  19,  1880,  from  her  post  of 
duty,  and  her  saintly  remains  repose  in  the  cemetery  of  St. 
Ignatius  among  the  Indians  whom  she  loved  so  dearly. 

Sister  Remi,  whose  health  had  been  seriously  impaired  by 
long  and  arduous  school  work  on  the  Mission,  was  recalled  to 


THE  FIRST  SISTERS  IN  MONTANA  147 

Montreal  for  medical  treatment.  But  she  had  run  her  course 
and  won  the  crown,  and  there,  shortly  after  her  arrival,  the 
Heavenly  Bridegroom,  April  25,  1885,  summoned  her  to  Himself. 

Sister  Mary  Edward  returned  to  the  motherhouse  several 
years  ago.  Hence  of  the  four  founders  of  the  school  the  only 
one  still  remaining  in  Montana  is  Sister  Mary  of  the  Infant 
Jesus,  whose  present  residence  is  at  Missoula. 

The  departed  ones,  as  well  as  those  called  to  other  fields  have 
been  succeeded  by  other  members  of  the  Order.  Thus,  the 
Sisters  of  Providence,  the  pioneer  Sisters  of  Montana,  and  the 
first  women  to  devote  themselves  to  the  uplifting  of  the  Indian 
female  sex  in  our  State,  have  been  at  their  work  with  unflagging 
earnestness  now  over  a  quarter  of  a  century.  And  what  has 
been  the  result?  The  barbarism  of  the  Indian  woman  of  forty 
years  ago,  thanks  to  the  enduring  and  persistent  efforts  of  the 
Sisters,  is  in  great  measure  a  thing  of  the  past.  Therefore,  as 
it  can  no  longer  be  contrasted  with  present  conditions,  neither 
can  these  be  rightly  understood,  still  less  fully  appreciated  by 
most  people  of  our  day.  The  difference  between  the  past  and 
the  present  in  this  regard  is  as  between  the  brightness  of  day 
and  the  darkness  of  night,  and,  perhaps,  even  greater  if  things 
be  considered  aright.  All  we  can  say  is  that  the  present  Indian 
woman,  owing  to  her  having  been  formed  in  the  Sisters'  school, 
is  moral,  cleanly,  well-bred,  becomingly  clad,  industrious,  as 
well  as  God-fearing;  and  that  as  no  more  could  be  done  in  her 
behalf,  neither  need  anything  further  be  said  in  commendation 
of  the  Sisters'  educational  work. 

It  will  be  seen  in  the  course  of  our  narrative  that  the  example 
of  the  Sisters  of  Providence  was  followed  some  time  later  on  by 
another  noble  and  brave  Sisterhood,  the  Ursulines,  who  also 
have  come  to  Montana  to  devote  themselves  to  the  cause  of 
Indian  education.  The  first  colony  arrived  in  our  mountains  in 
1884,  and  though  but  seven  years  at  work  in  the  thorny  field, 
they  have  achieved  real  wonders.  They  are  conducting  today 
seven  Indian  schools  in  our  state,  to  each  of  which  due  and 
timely  reference  will  be  made  as  we  proceed  with  our  subject.* 

♦Both  the  school  of  the  Sisters  and  that  of  the  Ursulines  have  been 
destroyed  by  fire  within  the  past  few  years.  At  the  present  time  (September, 
1922,)  the  former  community  are  conducting  a  hospital  at  the  Mission,  whilst 
the  latter  are  rebuilding  their  school. 


Chapter  XIX. 

THE  AUTHOR'S   FIRST   EXPERIENCE   OF   INDIAN    MISSIONARY   LIFE. 
A  SINGULAR  CONFESSION.      A  BEAR  STORY. 

OUR  personal  experience  of  Indian  missionary  life  dates  from 
the  fall  of  1867,  and  was  gained  at  St.  Ignatius,  where  we 
resided  for  nearly  ten  years.  It  being  thus  associated  with,  and 
part  of  the  local  history  of  the  subject  in  hand,  we  need  not 
apologize  to  the  reader  if  we  devote  to  it  here  most  of  the 
present  chapter. 

In  the  spring  of  1867,  Father  Grassi  had  gone  from  St. 
Ignatius  to  California,  the  object  of  his  journey  being  to  con- 
sult with  Father  J.  B.  Ponte,  who  had  been  sent  thither  as 
Visitor,  and  to  obtain  some  new  recruits  for  the  Rocky  Mountain 
Missions,  of  which  he  was  now  in  charge  as  Vice-Superior.  It 
fell  to  our  lot  to  be  one  of  the  recruits;  and  with  two  other 
confreres,  Father  J.  Bandini  and  Brother  R.  Terragno,  we  left 
for  the  Rockies  early  in  September,  being  led  by  Father  Grassi 
himself  and  going  by  the  way  of  Portland,  Oregon,  the  Dalles 
and  Walla  Walla.  Nearly  four  weeks  were  spent  in  this  first 
part  of  our  journey. 

During  the  summer,  two  Sisters  of  Providence  from  Fort 
Vancouver  had  gone  to  Montana,  on  a  begging  tour  through  the 
mines,  whence  they  were  expected  to  return  to  Walla  Walla 
toward  the  end  of  September.  Arrangements  had  been  made 
by  Father  Grassi  to  give  the  Sisters  an  escort  of  Indians  from  St. 
Ignatius  to  Walla  Walla,  and  the  same  Indians  were  to  be,  in 
turn,  the  guides  and  escort  of  our  party  to  the  mountains.  We 
reached  Walla  Walla  a  few  days  ahead  of  them,  so  that  when  they 
arrived  our  preparations  for  the  journey  had  been  completed.  It 
being  necessary,  however,  to  give  the  guides  and  their  animals 
some  rest,  our  departure  had  to  be  delayed  for  a  few  days. 

The  Rev.  R.  De  Ryckere,  the  priest  in  charge  of  the  Mission 
of  Deer  Lodge,  who  had  accompanied  the  Sisters  on  their  return 
to  Walla  Walla  from  Montana,  joined  our  band  to  return  to  his 


AUTHOR'S  FIRST  MISSIONARY  EXPERIENCE  149 

post.  There  was,  besides,  a  small  elephant  in  the  party.  This 
was  a  young  child,  a  little  miss  of  ten,  by  name  Annie  McMur- 
ray,  whom  the  Sisters  at  Walla  Walla,  at  the  request  of  the 
child's  parents  who  live  in  Montana,  entrusted  to  the  care  of 
Father  Grassi.  A  somewhat  difficult  charge  under  the  circum- 
stances. Our  two  Indian  guides  were  Louis  Saxa,  a  younger 
son  of  Old  Ignace,  the  famed  Iroquois  who  brought  the  faith 
to  the  Flat  Heads;  and  Atol  or  Adolph,  the  Kalispel  hero  of  the 
cabbage  romance  related  in  a  previous  chapter. 

Our  travelling  outfit  included,  besides  our  riding  horses, 
several  pack  animals  which  carried  among  other  necessaries 
three  tents,  one  for  the  Fathers  and  Brother;  another  for  the 
Indians,  and  a  third  one  for  little  Annie.  The  commissary  con- 
sisted of  flour,  hard-tack,  coffee,  sugar,  and  bacon;  while  a  kettle 
and  a  frying  pan,  together  with  some  tin  plates,  tin  cups,  tin 
spoons,  and  a  few  forks,  made  up  our  kitchen  utensils  and  the 
dining-room  furniture.  We  had  almost  forgotten  the  axe,  the 
most  indispensable  of  all  the  articles  needed  on  the  road. 

The  first  night  the  tents  were  pitched  on  Cow  Creek,  only  a 
few  miles  from  Walla  Walla.  Yet  to  the  writer  the  distance 
appeared  considerable,  as  his  whole  previous  experience  in  horse- 
back riding  had  not  extended  beyond  a  first  attempt  to  mount  a 
donkey,  and  that,  too,  had  abruptly  culminated  rather  ludicrously. 
But  we  had  started  on  our  long  mountain  journey  at  the  opening 
of  October,  the  month  of  the  Holy  Angels,  and  felt  confident 
that  our  good  Guardians  would  lead  us  safe  to  our  destination. 

The  next  day  we  were  left  afoot,  our  mounts  having  started 
back  for  civilization  during  the  night.  This  straying  of  the 
animals  occurred  time  and  again,  and  on  one  occasion  two 
whole  days  were  spent  in  hunting  up  the  truants.  It  was  annoy- 
ing no  doubt;  but  to  tell  the  truth,  the  writer  did  not  dislike  it 
so  much,  as  it  afforded  some  rest  to  his  weary  bones. 

A  couple  of  days  after,  we  were  jogging  along  by  the  side 
of  Father  Grassi,  who  usually  led  the  way,  when  all  at  once  he 
began  to  whip  and  spur  his  mount  into  a  wild,  furious  run. 
Horse  and  rider  soon  disappeared  from  sight  at  a  turn  in  the 
trail ;  and  we  last  saw  the  Father  in  the  air,  flying  over  the  head 
of  his  horse.  We  ran  up  to  where  he  lay,  and  found  him  uncon- 
scious and  bleeding  from  several  cuts  on  the  head.     The  spot 


ISO       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

was  a  desert,  with  no  water  to  bathe  the  Father's  face.  We 
stood  round  him,  as  if  paralyzed  by  the  shock;  and  all  thought 
him  dead.  But  his  Angel  Guardian  had  preserved  him  from 
serious  hurt ;  he  soon  regained  consciousness,  and  after  some  rest 
he  was  again  leading  the  party. 

There  are  things  stranger  than  fiction,  and  one  such  had  just 
occurred  under  our  eyes.  Father  Grassi  had  been  on  the  go 
from  early  spring,  and  had  lost  much  sleep  in  consequence.  Has 
not  nature  its  limits  of  endurance?  As  we  soon  learned  from 
him,  he  had  fallen  asleep  on  his  horse,  and  dreamt  that  he  was 
flying  over  the  hills  on  a  fiery  steed.  The  dream  became  strangely 
confused  with  the  reality;  while  fast  asleep  and  riding  a  phantom 
horse,  he  whipped  and  spurred  the  cayuse  he  actually  sat  upon 
into  that  breakneck  run. 

On  Rosary  Sunday  we  broke  camp  somewhat  earlier  than  on 
the  previous  days,  and  after  a  few  miles,  reached  a  spot  near 
the  woods — the  country  so  far  being  open — where  two  trails 
came  together.  The  Indians  driving  the  pack  horses  took  one, 
while  Father  Grassi  led  the  rest  of  the  party,  who  were  close  to 
him,  by  the  other,  with  which  he  was  familiar,  as  he  had  traveled 
over  it  before.  On  discovering  that  we  were  not  on  the  same 
path,  "it  makes  no  difference,"  said  Father  Grassi,  "the  two 
trails  meet  a  little  farther  ahead;"  and  we  kept  on. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  lowering  clouds  above  began  to  shower 
down  a  drizzling  rain  that  kept  us  drenched  through  the  whole 
day,  until  late  at  night.  It  was  a  Kneipp  treatment  with  a 
vengeance,  and  rendered  the  day's  travel  most  disagreeable. 
Darkness  overtook  us,  and  the  two  trails,  so  far  as  we  knew, 
had  not  yet  come  together.  To  all  appearances  we  were  lost  in 
the  woods,  about  half  way  between  Walla  Walla  and  the  Cceur 
d'Alene  Mission.  In  the  rain  and  without  food  the  whole  day 
from  early  morning,  there  was  now  no  hope  of  food  or  shelter 
for  the  night.  The  party  sought  some  protection  under  a  large 
tree,  and  after  many  attempts  succeeded  at  last  in  building  up  a 
good  fire,  which  had  a  cheering  effect  on  our  drooping  spirits. 

But  despite  his  efforts  to  keep  himself  and  us  in  a  happy  mood, 
it  was  plain  that  Father  Grassi  was  worried  over  the  situation. 
And  we  were  not  a  little  startled  when,  after  debating  things 
with  him  for  a  good  while,  he  laid  before  us  the  conclusion  he 


AUTHOR'S  FIRST  MISSIONARY  EXPERIENCE  151 

had  arrived  at.  We  were  to  kill  one  of  our  horses,  to  have 
something  to  eat,  and  make  our  way  to  the  Cceur  d'Alene  Mis- 
sion as  best  we  could,  partly  afoot  and  partly  on  horseback, 
taking  turns  about.  The  writer  thought  the  walking  preferable 
to  being  racked  on  the  back  of  a  beast;  and  as  to  horse-meat, 
hunger  might  make  it  not  only  palatable,  but  dainty  and  delicious. 
The  butchering  of  the  horse,  however,  presented  the  most  diffi- 
cult part  of  the  problem.  No  one  could  suggest  a  practical  way 
of  going  about  it,  nothing  being  at  hand  to  do  it  with,  not  even 
a  penknife. 

During  the  day  we  had  strained  our  eyes  for  a  sight  of  our 
missing  companions,  and  now,  at  night,  our  ears  were  eagerly 
intent  on  catching  some  sound  of  tramping  hoofs,  the  tinkling 
of  the  bell  on  the  neck  of  one  of  the  pack  animals,  or  of  a  human 
voice  other  than  that  of  one  of  our  party.  And  strange  as  it 
may  seem,  in  the  stillness  of  the  night  we  caught  now  one,  now 
another  of  these  signs,  that  is,  we  thought  we  did,  time  and 
again.  But  they  were  all  mere  fancies,  which  our  imagination 
worked  out  of  moving  branches,  the  tramping  of  our  own  horses, 
the  screeching  of  owls,  and  the  howlings  of  wolves  and  coyotes. 
Halloo  after  halloo  brought  back  no  response  but  the  empty 
echo  of  the  woods. 

At  last,  one  of  the  party,  Father  J.  Bandini,  who  had  ascended 
perhaps  for  the  ninth  or  tenth  time  during  the  night  the  ridge 
under  which  we  were  camped,  thought  he  really  heard  the  bell 
that  hung  on  the  neck  of  the  leading  pack  horse.  In  a  few 
moments  we  all  stood  on  the  ridge  in  breathless  attention,  while 
the  stillness  of  the  night  was  now  rent  by  a  stentorian  "Halloo" 
from  the  powerful  lungs  of  Father  Grassi.  To  our  great  joy, 
it  was  directly  caught  up  and  responded  to,  and  we  felt  sure 
that  the  response  was  not  an  echo.  Gradually  the  answering 
voice  came  closer  and  closer.  Before  long  the  whole  caravan 
was  again  united,  and  we  camped  out  by  the  fire  the  rest  of 
that  trying  night,  the  remembrance  of  which  still  lingers  quite 
vividly  in  our  mind. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  in  our  anxiety  to  make  the  point  where 
we  were  to  meet  and  camp  for  the  night,  we  had  gone  consider- 
ably beyond  it,  and  in  the  dusk  we  had  also  passed  unawares  the 
junction  of  the  two  trails.    The  Indians  who  followed  with  the 


152        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

tents  and  provisions,  not  finding  us  where  we  should  have  been, 
strove  to  join  us  where  we  might  be.  We  need  not  state  that 
henceforth  we  were  more  chary  of  losing  sight  of  our  travelling 
companions. 

The  day  before  arriving  at  the  Cceur  d'Alene  Mission,  and 
while  nearing  the  St.  Joe,  we  emerged  from  the  heart  of  the 
woods  into  an  open  space  on  top  of  the  hill  that  overhangs  the 
river  from  the  west.  The  sun  shone  brightly  from  near  the 
horizon,  standing  seemingly  on  a  level  with  our  head ;  and  now, 
as  with  our  back  turned  to  it,  we  looked  directly  before  us  and 
straight  across  the  St.  Joe,  an  enchanting  scene  burst  upon  our 
view.  A  beautiful  city,  a  city,  mark  you,  perfectly  laid  out,  with 
streets,  houses,  porches,  verandas,  squares,  parks,  etc.,  lay  before 
us,  as  if  built  on  and  covering  more  than  half  the  mountain  side 
beyond.  It  was  a  mirage,  and  a  most  perfect  one.  We  gazed 
upon  it  in  the  greatest  bewilderment,  and  but  for  the  wildness 
of  all  the  surroundings,  we  could  not  have  helped  taking  the 
fairy  vision  for  an  objective  reality. 

Ten  long  days  after  setting  out  from  Walla  Walla,  we  arrived 
at  the  Cceur  d'Alene  Mission.  We  shall  never  forget  the  warm 
and  hearty  reception  tendered  the  travelers  by  Father  J.  Caruana, 
the  Superior  of  the  Mission,  and  Father  Gazzoli,  his  companion. 

After  a  day's  rest,  with  a  relay  of  fresh  mounts  and  pack 
animals  and  a  replenished  commissary,  we  again  set  out  on  our 
journey.  Our  party,  however,  was  now  minus  two,  Father  J. 
Bandini  and  Brother  Terragno,  who  were  to  follow  later  on. 
We  were  at  last  nearing  Frenchtown,  when  to  our  right,  at  a 
point  between  Nine  Mile  Creek  and  the  lower  end  of  the  valley, 
we  noticed  signs  of  a  camping  party.  Father  Grassi  headed  in 
that  direction,  and  no  sooner  had  he  recognized  the  campers, 
and  they  him,  than  a  shout  of  gladness  went  up  on  both  sides. 
The  campers  were  Fathers  J.  Cataldo  and  J.  Menetrey,  with 
Brother  Carfagno,  who  in  obedience  to  previous  orders,  issued 
by  Father  Grassi  himself,  were  on  their  way  to  the  lower  coun- 
try. All  previous  orders  were  now  countermanded  by  Father 
Grassi,  the  primum  movens,  or  head  Superior.  As  a  conse- 
quence, the  two  traveling  parties  were  now  to  unite  in  one,  and 
go  together  to  Frenchtown,  whence  the  writer,  escorted  by  the 
two  Indians,  would  continue  on  his  journey  to  St.  Ignatius;  while 


AUTHOR'S  FIRST  MISSIONARY  EXPERIENCE  153 

the  other  confreres  were  to  accompany  Father  Grassi  to  Hell's 
Gate  on  a  visit  to  Father  Ravalli,  for  consultation  on  sundry 
matters  concerning  the  Missions.  In  this  latter  direction  lay 
likewise  the  Rev.  R.  De  Ryckere's  road  to  his  Deer  Lodge 
Mission. 

Little  Annie  McMurray,  the  young  miss  of  ten  who,  heroine- 
like, had  stood  the  hardships  of  the  long  journey  with  marvel- 
ous courage,  she  too  had  here  her  surprise.  This  she  found  in 
the  arms  of  her  father  and  sister,  who  had  no  sooner  heard  that 
she  was  in  our  party  than  they  hastened  to  the  camp  to  meet 
and  take  her  home. 

The  occurrences  of  the  last  two  hours,  together  with  the  near- 
ness of  the  village,  appeared  to  put  everybody  in  a  happy  frame 
of  mind.  Even  the  writer,  despite  the  damage  to  his  under- 
garments— we  mean  those  spun  by  Mother  Eve — seemed  to 
share,  at  least  for  a  while,  in  the  general  feeling  of  buoyant 
cheerfulness  that  prevailed.  Candidly,  however,  his  blithesome- 
ness  was  neither  over-exuberant  nor  very  substantial.  And  what 
a  rude  shock  did  it  not  receive  right  here,  when  everybody  except 
himself  and  the  Indians  driving  the  pack  animals,  started  out  on 
a  race  toward  the  village! 

The  rear  detachment  reached  the  town  when  the  others  were 
leaving  it  for  Hell's  Gate.  We  had  a  little  rest,  and  then  moved 
on  toward  the  mouth  of  O'Keeffe's  Canyon,  where  our  tent  was 
pitched  for  the  night.  The  next  day's  ride  proved  the  longest 
and  most  trying  of  all  previous  ones ;  but  thanks  to  God  and  our 
Angel  Guardian,  the  evening  saw  us  at  last  at  St.  Ignatius. 
How  to  sit,  stand,  walk,  now  occupied  our  attention  for  several 
days. 

Father  James  Vanzina  and  two  Brothers,  J.  Specht,  better 
known  simply  as  Brother  Joseph,  and  Vincent  Magri,  made  up 
at  this  time  the  number  of  our  brethren  at  St.  Ignatius.  With 
the  addition  of  our  poor  selves  and  the  arrival,  a  few  days  later, 
of  our  traveling  companion,  Father  J.  Bandini,  the  membership 
was  increased  to  five.  Father  Grassi,  whose  headquarters  were 
at  this  Mission,  spent  a  few  weeks  with  us  on  his  return  from 
Hell's  Gate  and  St.  Mary's.  He  then  went  to  Helena  and  other 
places  east  of  the  mountains,  whence  he  returned  early  in  the 
spring,  but  only  to  leave  again,  soon  after,  for  the  lower  country. 


154       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

Father  Vanzina  had  been  our  "guardian  angel"  in  the  novitiate, 
and  now,  a  veteran  of  some  years'  experience  on  the  Missions, 
was  to  initiate  us  also  in  the  work  of  an  Indian  missionary, 
while  in  Brothers  Joseph  and  Magri  we  were  to  have  for  com- 
panions two  of  the  first  missionaries  in  Montana.  To  their 
companionship,  which  extended  over  several  years,  we  owe  no 
small  part  of  the  Missions'  early  history  contained  in  these  pages. 

As  previously  remarked,  these  Indians  have  no  sound  of  "r," 
which  they  replace  by  "1 ;"  hence,  our  Christian  name  being 
Lawrence,  we  soon  became  with  them,  Lolo,  which  is  the  French 
Laurent.  We  were  in  this  one  of  the  exceptions,  as  Indians  are 
wont  to  call  people,  even  Fathers  and  Brothers,  by  this  or  that 
exterior  peculiarity,  which  they  are  exceeding  quick  to  notice  in 
persons.  Thus,  with  them,  Father  Giorda  was  Milkokan  (Round 
Head)  ;  Father  Grassi,  Chizikue  (Left-Handed  )  ;  Father  Cataldo, 
Kaoshin  (Broken  Leg)  ;  Father  Van  Goro,  Kutenalko  (Tall 
Man)  ;  Brother  Magri,  Chitas  (Lean  or  Skinny),  etc. 

We  resided  at  St.  Ignatius  from  the  end  of  October,  1867,  to 
the  beginning  of  November,  1873;  and  again,  from  the  latter 
part  of  December  of  1883,  to  the  spring  of  1887.  The  happen- 
ings of  this  period  of  twenty  years  are  recorded  throughout  the 
book.  We  here  mention  only  a  few  incidents  which  are  part  of 
the  local  history  of  St.  Ignatius,  or  closely  connected  with  it, 
and  which  seem  best  recounted  in  the  present  chapter. 

A  couple  of  weeks  after  arriving  at  the  Mission,  while  sitting 
beside  Father  Grassi,  who  was  informing  us  about  things  in 
general,  an  elderly  Indian  entered  the  room  without  knocking. 
Father  Grassi  asked  the  man:  "Stem?"  or,  "What  do  you 
want?"  The  Indian  answered,  "Ta  stem,"  that  is,  "Nothing;" 
and  advancing  toward  the  middle  of  the  room,  he  squatted  on 
the  floor,  near  the  stove.  "I  have  asked  him  what  he  wants,  and 
he  answered,  T  want  nothing.'  But  you  will  see,"  said  the 
Father  to  the  writer,  "that  he  wants  something,  though  it  may 
take  an  hour  to  bring  it  out."  Paying  no  further  attention  to 
the  Indian,  the  Father  went  on  with  his  instructions.  After  a 
long  while,  the  Indian  made  known  to  Father  Grassi  that  he 
wanted  to  go  to  confession.  We  rose  to  leave  the  room. 
"Remain,"  said  Father  Grassi,  "you  will  not  be  in  the  way." 
The  Father  moved  his  chair  to  where  the  Indian  was  squatting 


AUTHOR'S  FIRST  MISSIONARY  EXPERIENCE  155 

and  seated  himself  beside  him.  The  penitent  produced  from 
under  his  blanket  a  bunch  of  little  sticks,  held  together  by  a  bit 
of  buckskin.  He  untied  the  bunch  and  placed  the  sticks,  which 
were  of  different  lengths  and  sizes,  on  the  floor,  one  by  one, 
under  the  Father's  eyes. 

The  sticks  represented  his  sins  in  thought,  word,  deed  and 
according  to  number  and  species.  The  confession  was  gone 
through  rather  expeditiously,  and  mostly  by  signs,  hardly  a 
word  being  spoken  by  either  of  the  two.  Having  gathered  the 
sticks  and  thrown  them  into  the  stove,  our  good  man  left  the 
room  looking  very  happy.  Father  Grassi  made  the  remark 
that  probably  many  whites  could  not  examine  their  conscience 
half  so  well  as  that  Indian  did  his. 

It  is  not  known  whence  these  Indians  got  the  idea  of  thus 
keeping  an  account  of  their  failings;  but  their  contrivance  has 
often  reminded  us  of  the  practical  method  of  recording  one's 
faults  proposed  by  St.  Ignatius,  the  Founder  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  in  his  Particular  Examen. 

The  Indians  had  another  device  for  the  special  remembrance 
of  certain  days  in  the  years.  It  was  a  wooden  stick,  from 
twelve  to  eighteen  inches  long  and  about  half  an  inch  thick,  on 
which  they  would  cut  a  number  of  notches,  one  for  every  day. 
The  Sundays  were  indicated  by  a  double  notch,  cut  crosswise 
in  the  form  of  an  X.  At  the  close  of  each  day,  the  proper  cut 
on  the  stick  would  be  whittled  smooth.  They  used  this  especially 
to  recall  the  coming  of  the  three  principal  feasts  in  the  year, 
Christmas,  Easter,  and  that  of  St.  Ignatius,  the  Patron  of  the 
Mission.  Before  going  to  the  chase,  they  never  failed  to  ask 
the  missionaries  the  exact  number  of  days  before  the  feast,  and 
would  nick  their  sticks  accordingly,  to  make  sure  of  not  missing 
the  celebration. 

Some  such  device  would  have  been  very  serviceable  to  the 
missionaries  in  their  wild  surroundings  and  isolation.  Father 
Giorda  set  out  one  year  from  St.  Ignatius  to  visit  the  Cceur 
d'Alene  Mission  after  Easter,  and  on  reaching  the  place  found 
our  good  folk  there  still  keeping  Lent.  He  threw  up  his  arms 
in  surprise,  and  broke  the  spell  with  a  joyous  and  strongly 
accented:  "He  is  risen;  Alleluia."  To  cap  the  climax,  he  found 
that  they  had  placed  Easter  on  a  weekday. 


156       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

Whatever  the  cause,  some  very  peculiar  cases  of  absent- 
mindedness  call  for  a  word  of  comment.  Father  Van  Gorp 
started  from  the  Mission  one  day  for  the  Indian  Agency,  about 
eighteen  miles  away.  After  half  an  hour  or  so,  he  was  seen 
returning.  The  writer  stood  in  front  of  the  residence,  and, 
somewhat  surprised,  asked  the  Father  what  had  brought  him 
back  so  soon.  "I  forgot  my  pipe,"  was  the  answer.  Innocently 
and  as  a  matter  of  course,  we  asked  him  whether  the  pipe  he 
had  forgotten  was  like  the  one  in  his  mouth.  We  saw  his  face 
flush,  and  a  smile  play  on  his  lips,  as,  turning  his  horse,  he 
galloped  off  somewhat  faster  than  he  had  come.  We  need  not 
add  that  Father  Van  Gorp  was  thoroughly  wide-awake,  as  the 
business  men  of  Missoula  can  testify. 

Owing  to  their  small  number  and  the  distances  and  difficulties 
of  travel,  it  was  rare  that  several  Fathers  could  meet  together. 
One  summer,  however,  the  following  found  themselves  gathered 
under  the  same  roof,  namely,  Fathers  Giorda,  Imoda,  Menetrey, 
Ravalli,  and  the  writer.  While  sitting  in  a  room  12x13  ^eet» 
Father  Ravalli  happened  to  miss  his  glasses,  and  we  all  began 
to  look  for  them,  the  search  continuing  for  some  time.  There 
occurred  a  little  mishap,  a  slight  collision  of  our  right  temple 
with  the  aggressive  nose  of  Father  Ravalli.  And  lo!  the  Father 
had  on  two  pairs  of  spectacles :  one  pair  at  his  eyes,  and  the 
other  across  his  forehead!  It  seems  hardly  credible;  yet  it  is 
true. 

But  lest  all  our  tales  be  told  about  others,  here  is  one  on  our- 
selves. One  bright  summer  morning,  between  ten  and  eleven 
o'clock,  a  couple  of  Sisters  from  across  the  way,  called  on  the 
writer  about  some  urgent  matter.  Being  bidden  in,  they  were 
considerably  surprised  to  see  the  writer  at  his  desk  with  the 
lamp  burning  and  the  shades  drawn.  "Father,  are  you  sick?" 
they  inquired  somewhat  timidly.  The  query  brought  us  back 
to  our  wits.  Mechanically  in  the  morning  we  had  gone  through 
what  we  ordinarily  did  in  the  evening;  and  but  for  the  visitors, 
it  is  likely  that  we  would  have  remained  under  the  spell  and 
gone  to  bed,  to  wake  up  all  bewildered  at  seeing  creation  upset, 
with  the  sun  rising  no  longer  in  the  east,  but  in  the  west. 

We  close  the  chapter  with  a  bear  story,  a  rather  novel  and 
peculiar  incident  belonging  to  our  first  year's  residence  at  St. 


.*> 


Major  Peter  Ronan 
a  famous  indian  agent 


Governor  Joseph  Toole 
who  is  still  with  us 


AUTHOR'S  FIRST  MISSIONARY  EXPERIENCE  157 

Ignatius.  One  evening,  a  little  before  dusk,  Father  J.  Bandini, 
who  had  already  become  quite  proficient  in  the  language,  was 
called  to  the  church  to  hear  a  confession.  He  promptly  answered 
the  summons,  and  while  drawing  the  curtain  of  his  box,  was 
confronted  with  a  most  unlooked-for  object,  a  live,  black  bear, 
which  had  found  its  way  into  the  church,  and  was  in  possession 
of  the  priest's  side  of  the  confessional.  The  writer  was  the  first 
whom  the  Father  met  as  he  rushed  out  to  give  the  alarm;  for 
which,  however,  there  was  no  real  cause.  The  bear  had  been  a 
familiar  object  about  the  place  for  a  couple  of  years,  having 
been  brought  up  in  the  camp  from  a  cub.  But  the  strangeness 
of  the  encounter  had  caused  the  Father  to  forget  this  fact  for 
the  moment.  Still,  the  beast  had  to  be  shot  within  the  year,  as  it 
was  growing  vicious  with  age. 

But  enough  of  stories.     Let  us  proceed  to  more  important 
parts  of  our  subject. 


Chapter  XX. 

INDIAN  BOYS'  SCHOOL. 

rP  HE  necessity  of  providing  the  Indian  boys  with  the  same 
J-  school  facilities  that  had  been  secured  for  the  girls,  became 
every  day  more  apparent.  What  good  results  could  be  expected 
by  educating  the  girls  and  leaving  the  boys  barbarians  ? 

As  soon  therefore  as  the  required  arrangements  could  be  per- 
fected, the  Indians  boys'  school  that  had  been  started  in  1864, 
as  a  day  school,  and  which,  as  such,  had  proved  a  total  failure, 
was  reorganized  as  a  boarding  school  under  the  direct  manage- 
ment of  the  Fathers.  Four  boys,  namely,  Camille,  Ignace, 
Andrew,  the  latter's  brother,  and  Peter,  after  a  good  scrubbing, 
were  put  in  pants  or,  as  the  expression  goes  with  Government 
officials,  in  "citizen's  clothes."  They  were  the  first  to  be  admitted, 
and  Brother  L.  D'Agostino  had  them  in  charge  as  prefect  and 
guardian.  To  these  firstlings  a  couple  more,  Batiste  and  Lome, 
the  sons  of  Joseph  and  Adelaide,  were  added  shortly  after;  and 
thus  the  school  for  Indian  boys  was  started  with  six  Indian 
youths  as  its  first  boarders. 

With  the  girls'  department  already  in  operation  and  depend- 
ing on  the  Mission  for  its  upkeep,  only  a  few  boys  could  be 
admitted  at  the  beginning.  For,  though  a  subsidy  of  $1,800 
toward  the  education  of  Indian  children  had  been  received  from 
the  Government  in  1863-4,  no  further  aid  was  extended  to  the 
Mission  Schools  for  the  next  ten  years,  that  is,  until  1874.  Con- 
sequently, during  this  period  public  charity  had  to  be  appealed 
to,  in  order  to  keep  the  schools  in  existence.  Obviously,  no  great 
headway  could  be  made  under  the  circumstances.  Still,  the 
boarders  gradually  increased  in  numbers,  and  new  and  larger 
buildings  had  to  be  erected  for  their  accommodation. 

The  first  contract  subsidy  from  the  Government  came  in  1874, 
a  sum  of  $2,100  being  then  allowed  our  schools  for  that  year 
and  the  next  three  years,  that  is,  up  to  1878.  At  this  latter  date 
the  contract  allowance  was  raised  to  $4,000,  and  remained  the 


INDIAN  BOYS'  SCHOOL  159 

same  till  1890,  when  a  more  liberal  policy  toward  the  schools  at 
St.  Ignatius  was  adopted  by  the  Government. 

First,  however,  it  must  be  observed  that  Indian  school  con- 
tracts were  usually  awarded  by  the  Government  on  a  certain 
monthly  per  capita  rate  for  a  specified  number  of  Indian  chil- 
dren, who  were  to  be  supported  and  educated  on  the  subsidy 
allowed.  Accordingly,  the  subsidies  just  spoken  of  and  granted 
the  schools  at  St.  Ignatius,  were  at  the  rate  of  $100  per  pupil 
for  a  full  year  of  twelve  months,  giving  a  monthly  per  capita  of 
eight  dollars  and  a  fraction  for  each  Indian  pupil.  This  amount 
was  considerably  less  than  that  which  the  Government  allowed 
for  the  maintenance  of  Indian  children  in  its  own  schools  and 
others  under  the  care  of  non-Catholic  denominations.  Moreover, 
in  these  latter  schools,  buildings,  equipments,  etc.,  as  well  as  the 
salary  of  principals  and  teachers,  were  provided  by  the  Govern- 
ment outside  the  per  capita  allowance  for  the  maintenance  of 
pupils.  Whereas,  at  St.  Ignatius,  everything,  buildings,  equip- 
ment and  all  had  to  be  supplied  by  the  Mission.  Hence,  the 
contract  subsidy  received  from  the  Government  did  not  cover 
actual  expenses;  and  this  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the 
Fathers  and  the  Sisters  drew  no  salary  of  any  kind  for  their 
services,  and  that,  further,  their  personal  wants  as  to  food  and 
clothing  were  the  very  minimum.  Was  there  not  unfair  dis- 
crimination in  the  matter?  No  doubt  of  it.  Hence  the  more 
equitable  arrangement  effected  by  act  of  Congress,  according  to 
which  the  monthly  per  capita  for  each  Indian  pupil,  beginning 
with  the  fiscal  year  of  1890-91,  was  raised  to  $12.50,  and  the 
number  of  contract  pupils  increased  to  an  even  three  hundred. 

The  credit  for  this  change  is  due,  principally,  to  the  Hon. 
Geo.  G.  Vest,  United  States  Senator  from  Missouri;  to  His 
Excellency,  Jos.  K.  Toole,  our  Governor,  and  formerly  Mon- 
tana's Delegate  to  Congress,  who  are  both  non-Catholic;  and  to 
the  Hon.  T.  H.  Carter,  who  was  Mr.  Toole's  successor  in  the 
House  of  Representatives.* 

Senator  Vest  supported  the  Mission  Schools  in  the  Senate; 
while  Mr.  Toole  did  the  same  in  the  House.  On  assuming  Mr. 
Toole's  place,  Mr.  T.  H.  Carter  took  up  the  measure  which  the 
former  had  framed  in  favor  of  the  Mission  Schools,  and  he  not 

*  Mr.  Carter  was  afterwards  United  States  Senator  from  Montana. 


160       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

only  brought  it  before  the  House,  but  ably  defended  it  against 
the  attacks  of  the  A.  P.  A.,  and  pressed  it  to  a  successful  issue. 

We  said  above,  when  speaking  of  the  Indian  girls,  that  class- 
room work  went  hand-in-hand  with  manual  training.  This  was 
even  more  so  with  the  Indian  boys.  The  school  has  become  a 
little  village,  and  affords  the  Indian  youth  every  opportunity  of 
being  formed  in  the  habits  of  civilized  life.  Some  three  hours 
of  the  day  are  given  to  book  learning,  that  is,  reading,  spelling, 
writing  and  ciphering;  and  the  rest,  apart  from  the  time  for 
religious  exercises  and  recreation,  is  devoted  to  varied  industrial 
occupations,  farming,  gardening,  haying,  tending  and  feeding 
stock,  milking  cows,  shop  work,  etc.  Thus,  while  some  of  the 
boys  are  cutting  and  splitting  wood,  others  are  teaming  and 
hauling  logs.  Some  are  helping  in  the  grist  mill,  others  at  the 
saw  mill,  the  planer,  the  shingle-cutting  machine.  Boy  tailors 
running  sewing  machines,  or  mending  torn  clothing,  cobblers 
with  last  and  awl,  blacksmiths,  carpenters,  painters  and  tin- 
smiths, all  are  to  be  found  at  work  in  the  shops. 

But  what  possesses  a  special  charm  for  Indian  boys,  is  har- 
ness- and  saddle-making ;  and  the  reason  is  not  far  to  seek.  Here 
everything  has  reference  to  the  horse,  and  the  horse  is  an  Indian's 
first  and  best  love.  As  a  proof  of  their  marked  proficiency  in 
this  handicraft  we  may  mention  the  fact  that  a  couple  of  saddles 
of  their  own  making  have  been  taken  abroad  and,  becoming  as 
they  did,  one  the  possession  of  a  prelate  in  Rome,  and  the  other 
of  a  grandee  in  Portugal,  brought  no  little  credit  to  the  Indian 
boys  of  this  department.  The  prelate  referred  to  was  Monsignor 
John  B.  Guidi,  later  on,  His  Grace,  the  Apostolic  Delegate  to 
the  Philippines,  who  came  to  the  United  States  in  the  summer  of 
1886,  as  the  bearer  of  the  zucchetto  to  His  Eminence,  Cardinal 
Gibbons.  Wishing  to  see  his  elder  brother,  our  Father  Joseph 
Guidi,  so  well  known  all  over  this  country  and  often  mentioned 
in  these  pages,  Monsignor  Guidi,  before  returning  to  Rome,  came 
to  Montana  in  the  fall  of  that  year,  and  visited  Helena,  Missoula, 
and  the  Mission  of  St.  Ignatius.  While  inspecting  the  Mission 
schools  he  was  so  taken  with  a  couple  of  saddles  made  by  the 
Indian  boys  that  he  secured  them  both,  one  for  his  own  use,  and 
the  other  for  a  friend  of  his  at  the  royal  court  of  Portugal, 


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Senator  Thomas  H.  Carter 


Senator  George  G.  Vest 


BRILLIANT   MEMBERS  OF   THE   U.   S.    SENATE,   WARM   FRIENDS  AND   DEFENDERS 

OF   THE    MISSION    SCHOOLS 


n 


INDIAN  BOYS'  SCHOOL  161 

where  Monsignor  Guidi  had  become  well  known  in  his  capacity 
of  Secretary  to  the  Papal  Nuncio. 

The  School  has  a  brass  band  of  twenty  pieces,  a  proof  that 
the  musical  talent  of  the  Indian  boys  is  not  a  whit  inferior  to 
that  of  their  sisters.  Some  of  the  players  are  youngsters,  mere 
"kids"  under  twelve.  Worth  mentioning,  and  much  to  their 
credit,  is  the  fact  that  the  music  for  the  celebration  of  the  Silver 
Jubilee  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  J.  B.  Brondel,  the  Bishop  of  Helena,  was 
furnished  by  the  Indian  Boys'  Band  of  St.  Ignatius.  Their 
playing  was  a  marked  feature  of  the  day,  and  a  great  surprise 
to  all  who  heard  them. 

At  St.  Ignatius  there  is  also  a  well-equipped  printing  plant 
of  which  the  School  has  reason  to  be  proud,  especially  since  here 
was  brought  out  an  octavo  of  1,100  pages.  The  appearance  of 
the  book,  if  somewhat  inferior  to  its  intrinsic  worth,  is  creditable, 
and  will  appear  the  more  so  when  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  it  is 
the  work  of  Indian  missionaries,  gotten  up  in  an  Indian  country 
and,  to  a  great  extent,  also  by  Indian  labor.  The  volume  is  a 
complete  dictionary  of  the  Selish  or  Kalispel  language  spoken  by 
the  Flat  Heads  and  several  other  Indian  tribes  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  is  divided  into  two  parts,  Indian-English  and 
English-Indian. 

It  took  from  1876  to  1879  to  print  the  work.  The  press  was 
bought  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  at  an  outlay  of  $500,  the  freight  more 
than  doubling  the  original  cost.  Father  A.  Diomedi  was  the  first 
to  initiate  our  Indian  school  boys  at  St.  Ignatius  in  type-setting 
and  the  other  details  of  the  printer's  art. 

Here  may  also  be  mentioned  two  other  publications  in  Selish 
or  Kalispel,  issued  by  the  Mission  press  and  both  the  work  of 
Father  Giorda.  The  first  is  a  little  manual  of  prayer  and  Chris- 
tian doctrine,  with  several  Indian  canticles ;  the  other,  Narratives 
from  the  Scriptures,  contains  the  Gospels  of  every  Sunday  and 
the  principal  feasts  of  the  year,  together  with  stories  from  the 
Old  Testament.  The  latter  came  out  in  1876  and  numbers  140 
pages ;  whilst  the  former  had  seen  the  light  before,  and  is  some- 
what smaller  in  size.  In  point  of  Indian  scholarship  they  are 
both  excellent  productions. 

To  the  above  may  be  added  May  Blossoms,  a.  small  devotional 
work  in  English,  somewhat  original  in  conception  if  not  of  much 


162       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

intrinsic  merit.  It  consists  of  very  short  readings,  on  many  tiny 
slips,  one  inch  by  three  in  size  and  of  different  colors.  Each 
slip  is  complete  in  itself,  and  presents  no  more  than  a  thought  to 
be  reflected  upon,  or  a  practical  suggestion  to  be  complied  with, 
as  an  act  of  devotion  toward  the  Blessed  Mother  of  God.  The 
eagerness  with  which  people  were  often  noticed  to  seize  a  bit  of 
candy  for  the  line  of  reading  that  went  with  it,  suggested  the 
idea  of  May  Blossoms.  These  little  papers  or  May  Slips  take 
well,  and  do  much  good.  They  were  first  issued  at  St.  Ignatius 
in  1866,  the  type-setting  and  press  work  being  done  by  the 
Indian  boys  of  the  School. 

The  larger  Catechism  of  Christian  Doctrine  by  Father  Philip 
Canestrelli  is  another  publication  in  Kelispel  and  a  most  valuable 
addition  to  Indian  literature.  This  work,  however,  cannot  be 
credited  to  the  Mission  press,  since  it  was  issued  at  Woodstock, 
Md.,  by  the  Woodstock  College  Press  in  1890-91.  Still,  we 
mention  it  here  from  the  fact  of  its  being  in  Kalispel,  and  pre- 
pared by   Father   Canestrelli   whilst  doing  missionary  duty   at 

St.  Ignatius. 

We  stated  above  that  a  well-conducted  industrial  boarding 
school  when  located  among  them,  is  not  only  the  best  means  to 
civilize  the  young  Indian  generation,  who  are  directly  benefited 
by  it,  but  also  the  best  way  to  improve  the  condition  of  the 
grown-ups,  so  far  at  least,  as  this  can  be  ameliorated.  St. 
Ignatius  Mission  gives  us  a  clear  and  striking  proof  of  this, 
since  the  older  Indians,  men  and  women,  can  here  be  seen  striving 
to  follow,  as  best  they  can,  the  examples  of  civilized,  industrious 
life  daily  set  before  them.  Food,  dress,  and  manners  show  this. 
Likewise,  their  dwellings,  their  little  dairies,  their  orchards, 
strawberry  patches,  kitchen  gardens,  fields,  meadows,  etc.,  are 
so  many  proofs  of  what  we  assert.  Their  practical  knowledge 
of  all  these  industries  has  come  to  them  from  what  they  saw 
others  do.  Twenty-five  years  ago,  and  for  a  good  while  there- 
after, we  never  saw  a  single  Indian  mother  who  did  not  more 
or  less  torture  into  shapelessness  the  feet  and  toes  of  her  little 
babe  by  carrying  him  about,  tied  up  in  a  kind  of  purse  or  small 
buckskin  sack  attached  to  a  board,  and  this,  in  turn,  strapped  to 
her  own  back.  Today  the  Indian  mother  who  clings  to  the 
savage  custom  is  the  exception. 


INDIAN  BOYS'  SCHOOL  163 

A  little  incident  of  a  serio-comic  kind  that  happened  some 
twenty  years  ago  may  still  further  illustrate  the  point.  Excessive 
droughty  weather  had  dried  up  the  water  supply  of  the  Mission 
farm,  and  as  a  result  the  crops  failed  two  years  in  succession. 
To  prevent  the  recurrence  of  a  like  misfortune,  it  became  neces- 
sary to  look  for  another  water  source.  A  rough  survey  of  the 
ground  convinced  the  writer  that  the  needed  supply  could  be 
brought  to  the  fields  from  the  main  stream  that  runs  through 
the  Mission.  The  water  course  was  surveyed  and  staked  out, 
and  as  many  Indians,  men  and  women,  as  were  willing  to  work, 
were  put  to  do  the  digging.  Old  Chief  Atelee*  was  made  fore- 
man, with  directions  to  keep  order  among  the  workers.  One 
day  the  old  chief  went  up  to  the  head  of  the  ditch,  and  on  coming 
back  noticed  a  line  of  stakes  driven  along  the  bank,  some  distance 
above  the  level  of  the  stream.  After  looking  steadily  for  some 
time,  he  came  up  to  the  writer:  "Lolo,"  said  he  gruffly,  "all  this 
work  is  itcnemus  (useless,  to  no  purpose)  ;  water  does  not  run 
up-hill;"  and  he  ordered  all  hands  to  quit. 

Fortunately,  but  little  work  remained  to  be  done  to  bring  the 
water  over  the  bank;  and  by  coaxing,  some  of  the  Indians  were 
induced  to  resume  digging  and  open,  at  least  partially,  the 
remainder  of  the  water  course.  This  done,  the  old  man  was 
invited  up  to  the  head  of  the  ditch.  When  the  water  was  let  in, 
Atelee  kept  walking  a  little  ahead,  now  and  then  looking  back 
to  see  whether  the  water  still  followed  him.  When  he  saw  it 
run  just  as  fast  where  he  thought  it  would  never  reach,  the  old 
chief  began  to  shout,  dance  and  skip  about  as  if  beside  himself. 
Coming  up  to  me  in  his  joy,  and  taking  both  my  hands  in  his, 
he  shook  them  with  considerable  warmth  and  vigor,  repeating 
all  the  while :  "Lolo,  you  are  a  man,  skaltemiou,  not  a  woman, 
tas  smee'm."  After  this,  there  were  several  calls  from  Indian 
farmers  to  be  shown  how  to  make  water  "walk"  into  their  fields ; 
and  several  of  them  dug  out  ditches  to  irrigate  their  little  farms. 
For,  imitation,  after  all,  has  ever  been  and  ever  will  be  a  char- 
acteristic of  man,  whether  the  color  of  his  skin  be  white,  red 
or  black. 

Some  two  years  ago  a  new  department  was  added  to  the 
Indian  boarding  schools  at  the  Mission.     It  is  a  nursery  school 

*  The  Indian  of  Andrew  or  French  Andre. 


164       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

or  Kindergarten  for  little  papooses  between  two  and  four  years 
of  age. 

This  departure  is  beyond  doubt  another  step  in  the  right  direc- 
tion and  perhaps  the  most  important.  Screened  from  the  blight- 
ing influence  of  their  savage  environment,  nurtured  and  reared 
in  the  lap  of  civilization  from  their  babyhood,  the  young  Indians 
are  thus  placed  on  the  same  level  with  favored  members  of  the 
human  family.  Trained  and  formed  in  such  surroundings,  there 
should  be  little  of  the  Indian  left  in  them,  except  skin  and  color. 
But,  then  skin  and  color  are  not  special  signs  of  either  civiliza- 
tion or  barbarism. 

Because  of  the  painstaking  care  demanded,  this  nursery  school 
was  started  by  way  of  experiment  and  not  without  misgiving. 
However,  the  experience  of  two  years  has  dispelled  all  doubts 
about  the  matter,  proving  the  measure  to  be  practical  and  wise. 
The  little  papooses  are  healthier,  the  average  mortality  among 
them  being  considerably  less  than  among  other  Indian  children 
of  the  same  age,  who  are  without  the  same  care.  The  Indian 
mothers  are  delighted  to  see  their  wee  tots  the  object  of  the 
thousand  and  one  attentions  bestowed  upon  them  by  the  good 
Sisters ;  and  from  what  they  observe  are  themselves  taught  how 
to  look  after  the  cleanliness,  health  and  comfort  of  their  children. 

The  Ursuline  Nuns  have  been  given  the  charge  of  this  depart- 
ment; and  well  indeed  do  they  acquit  themselves  of  their  task. 
We  know  that  some  have  questioned  the  wisdom  of  bringing  a 
new  Sisterhood  into  so  small  a  place  as  St.  Ignatius.  But  the 
good  done  by  the  new  Community  appears  to  have  more  than 
justified  its  introduction.  In  the  Kindergarten,  both  boys  and 
girls  are  cared  for.  The  boys,  however,  on  reaching  a  certain 
age  pass  over  to  the  Boys'  School  conducted  by  the  Fathers.  As 
the  Government  makes  no  provision  for  Indian  pupils  under 
four  years,  the  little  ones  between  two  and  four  in  this  institution 
are  supported  by  the  Mission. 

Grouping  now  together  the  three  educational  departments,  the 
Boys'  School,  with  120  boarders;  the  Girls'  School,  conducted 
by  the  Sisters  of  Providence,  with  a  few  more  girl  boarders  than 
the  number  of  boys  kept  by  the  Fathers,  and  the  Kindergarten, 
managed  by  the  Ursulines,  with  seventy  boys  and  girls  in  their 
keeping,  we  have  a  total  of  more  than  320  Indian  children  being 


The  Rev.  James  Rebmann,  S.J. 


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The  Rev.  A.  Van  der  Velden,  SJ. 


INDIAN  BOYS'  SCHOOL  165 

educated  today  at  St.  Ignatius.  Should  the  non-sectarian  policy 
of  Commissioner  Morgan  prevail,  no  great  stretch  of  the  imagina- 
tion is  needed  to  forecast  unfortunate  consequences  for  these  poor 
Indian  children.  Most  of  them  will  be  thrust  back  into  far  more 
bitter  barbarism  than  that  in  which  they  were  born.  For  savagery 
is  doubly  deplorable  for  such  as  fall  back  into  it  from  the  lap  of 
civilization. 

Father  James  Rebmann,  the  present  Superior  of  the  Mission, 
is  the  Principal  of  the  Boys'  School,  as  well  as  the  general  Super- 
intendent of  the  Girls'  and  Kindergarten  departments.  He  is 
well  qualified  for  the  task  and  ably  seconded,  besides,  by  a  corps 
of  efficient  and  devoted  teachers. 

Let  us  add  a  few  words  from  outsiders  concerning  the  Mis- 
sion Schools  of  St.  Ignatius. 


Chapter  XXI. 

HON.    GEORGE   G.   VEST,    UNITED   STATES   SENATOR,   AND   CATHOLIC 

METHODS  OF  EDUCATING  THE  INDIANS   AS  EXEMPLIFIED 

AT  THE  ST.  IGNATIUS  INDUSTRIAL  BOARDING  SCHOOLS. 

THE  Honorable  gentleman  whose  name  heads  this  chapter 
served  on  a  special  committee  appointed  at  the  wish  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  in  1883,  to  visit 
the  Indian  reservations  of  the  West.  During  the  month  of 
September  of  the  same  year  he  came  to  the  Mission  of  St. 
Ignatius.  His  appreciation  of  the  methods  followed  by  the 
Fathers  and  the  Sisters  in  educating  the  Indians,  will  best  appear 
from  his  own  words,  spoken  in  the  United  States  Senate  on 
May  12,  1884: 

In  all  my  wanderings  in  Montana  last  summer  I  saw  but  one 
ray  of  light  on  the  subject  of  Indian  education.  I  am  a  Protestant 
— born  one,  educated  one,  and  expect  to  die  one — but  I  say  now 
that  the  system  adopted  by  the  Jesuits  is  the  only  practical  system 
for  the  education  of  the  Indian,  and  the  only  one  that  has  resulted 
in  anything  at  all. 

Here,  making  his  own  the  words  of  another  Senator  (Mr. 
Dawes,  of  Massachusetts),  who  had  said  that  the  reason  of  the 
success  of  the  Jesuits  with  the  Indian  was  that  they  devoted 
their  whole  lives  to  the  work,  he  confirms  the  statement  by  refer- 
ring to  Father  A.  Ravalli,  whom  he  had  visited  "at  his  little 
room"  at  St.  Mary's,  and  who,  "though  bed-ridden  for  some 
years,  was  still  administering  to  the  wants  of  the  Indians." 

This  man's  whole  life  was  given  up  to  the  work,  and  what  is  the 
result?  Today  the  Flat  Heads  are  one  hundred  per  cent  in  advance 
of  any  other  Indians  in  point  of  civilization,  at  least  in  Montana. 
Fifty  years  ago  the  Jesuits  were  among  them,  and  today  you  see 
the  result. 

The  Senator  enters  here  into  the  details  of  the  industrial  and 
school-room  training  given  in  their  respective  departments  by  the 


CATHOLIC  EDUCATION  OF  INDIANS  167 

Fathers  and  Sisters  to  the  boys  and  girls  in  their  keeping,  then 
he  continues:  "We  had  a  school  examination  there,  lasting 
through  two  days.  I  undertake  to  say  now  that  never  in  the 
States  was  there  a  better  examination  than  I  heard  at  that  Mis- 
sion of  children  of  the  same  ages  with  those  I  saw  there." 

After  referring  to  the  different  industries  in  which  the  Indian 
children  were  being  trained : 

I  asked  the  Father  in  charge  [adds  Senator  Vest]  to  give  me  his 
experience  as  an  Indian  teacher  and  to  state  what  had  given  the 
school  its  remarkable  success.  He  said  it  resulted  from  the  fact  that 
they  trained  both  the  boys  and  the  girls.  Here  is  the  whole  of  it  in  a 
single  sentence.  I  call  the  attention  of  the  Senators,  who  are  inter- 
ested in  the  question,  to  this  singular  point — when  a  class  graduates 
in  the  male  school,  a  class  also  graduates  in  the  female  school.  From 
the  fact  that  the  boys  and  girls  are  both  educated,  by  their  similarity 
of  tastes  and  by  their  advance  in  civilization,  they  become  husband 
and  wife,  and  as  soon  as  that  took  place  the  Jesuits  and  the  Agent 
would  build  them  a  little  house,  break  up  a  piece  of  ground,  and  the 
single  couple  became  a  nucleus  of  civilization  and  Christianity.  You 
must  educate  both  sexes  in  order  that  the  one  shall  support  the  other, 
in  order  that  they  may  go  out  to  battle  against  barbarism  hand  in 
hand ;  and  until  you  do  it,  it  is  absolutely  money  thrown  away  to  take 
either  sex  and  undertake  to  educate  them  separately.  The  Jesuits 
have  the  key  to  the  whole  problem.  They  have  learned  it  by  actual 
experience,  and  the  result  is  shown  to-day.  Let  any  Senator  take 
the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  and  get  off  at  Arlee  and  go  to  these 
missions,  and  he  will  see  farms  with  cattle  upon  them,  he  will  see 
Indians  cutting  logs,  carrying  them  to  saw-mills,  getting  out  planks, 
and  putting  them  up  into  houses  with  their  own  hands.  He  will  see 
them  attend  mass  regularly. 

Touching  upon  the  subject  of  day-schools  for  Indians,  Senator 
Vest  makes  the  following  declaration : 

I  saw  not  one  day-school  in  the  eleven  tribes  that  we  visited  in 
Montana  where  the  Indians  had  learned  a  solitary  thing.  As  the 
Senator  from  Kansas  said  here  to-day,  and  that  part  of  his  speech  I 
heartily  approve,  "the  attendance  at  such  schools  is  on  ration  day." 
It  is  utterly  impossible  to  educate  the  Indian  if  you  let  him  go  back 
to  his  family  each  day.  Indians  are  utterly  averse  to  the  idea  that  a 
boy  should  work.  It  is  right  for  women  to  work.  They  are  made  to 
work.  Old  Arlee,  the  second  chief  of  the  Flatheads,  abused  the 
school  to  me  and  denounced  it,  and  I  found  his  objection  to  it  was 


168       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

that  he  sent  his  boy  over  there  and  the  Fathers  put  him  to  work  in 
the  field.  In  other  words,  as  he  said  to  me,  "I  did  not  send  my  boy 
there  to  be  a  squaw."  He  did  not  intend  him  to  be  degraded  by  any 
manual  exercise  at  all.  It  is  perfectly  evident,  that  with  all  such 
prejudices,  such  feeling  in  regard  to  sustaining  oneself  with  actual 
labor,  it  is  impossible  to  do  anything  for  these  people,  or  to  advance 
them  one  single  degree  until  you  take  their  children  away. 

And  what  is  the  Senator's  opinion  about  taking  the  Indian 
youth  thousands  of  miles  off  their  country  in  order  to  civilize 
and  educate  them? 

I  would  not  take  them  off  to  the  States  [he  declares]  where  they 
would  acquire  ideas  which  are  alien  to  Indian  life.  The  Jesuits,  I 
repeat,  have  found  the  secret  of  the  whole  system,  and  that  is  the 
boarding  schools  and  industrial  schools  upon  the  Reservations,  where 
the  children  are  taken,  and  where  the  parents  are  permitted  to  see 
them. 

Subsequently,  in  the  same  debate  Senator  Vest  expressed  him- 
self as  follows: 

In  regard  to  educating  both  sexes,  and  in  boarding  schools,  let  me 
say  a  word  to  the  Senator  of  Massachusetts.  I  do  not  speak  with 
any  sort  of  denominational  prejudices  in  favor  of  the  Jesuits.  I  was 
taught  to  abhor  the  whole  sect.  I  was  raised  in  that  good  old-school 
Presbyterian  Church  that  looked  upon  the  Jesuits  as  very  much  akin 
to  the  devil.  But  I  say  now,  that  if  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts, 
the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs,  will  find  me  any 
tribe  of  Indians  on  the  continent  of  North  America,  that  approxi- 
mates in  civilization  to  the  Flat  Heads,  who  have  been  under  the 
control  of  the  Jesuits  for  fifty  years,  I  will  abandon  my  entire  theory 
on  the  subject.  I  say  that  out  of  the  eleven  tribes  that  I  saw — and 
I  say  this  as  a  Protestant — where  they  had  Protestant  missionaries 
they  had  not  made  a  single  solitary  advance  toward  civilization,  not 
one;  and  yet  among  the  Flat  Heads,  where  there  were  two  Indian 
Missions,  you  find  farms,  you  find  civilization,  you  find  Christianity, 
you  find  the  relation  of  husband  and  wife,  and  of  father  and  child 
scrupulously  observed.  I  say  that  one  ounce  of  experience  is  worth 
a  ton  of  theory  at  any  time,  and  this  I  say,  and  I  know  it. 

Six  years  later,  July,  1890,  when  the  Indian  Appropriation 
Bill  was  under  discussion  in  the  Senate,  Senator  Vest  spoke 
again  in  the  same  strain  and  said  (we  quote  from  the  Congres- 
sional Record  of  July  25,  1890)  : 


CATHOLIC  EDUCATION  OF  INDIANS  169 

My  opinions,  from  personal  observation,  and  not  theory,  are  fixed 
upon  this  question.  I  say  that  the  Jesuits  have  succeeded  better  than 
any  other  persons  living  in  the  education  of  these  people,  and  I  say 
this  with  every  prejudice,  if  that  be  the  proper  word,  against  the 
Jesuits'  organization,  against  the  Society  of  Jesus ;  I  say  this  as  a 
Protestant,  an  educated  Protestant,  and  I  trust  as  a  representative 
Protestant,  and  I  know  what  I  say  to  be  true.  I  have  seen  the 
system  which  is  denounced  by  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs 
in  operation.    I  simply  accept  results. 

The  words  of  Senator  Vest  need  no  comment;  they  speak  for 
themselves.  Perhaps  no  question  of  the  present  day  has  been 
more  muddled  and  perverted  by  misrepresentation,  hypocrisy  and 
downright  dishonesty  than  that  of  Indian  education.  Hence  it 
is  indeed  refreshing  to  hear  a  man  of  the  standing  of  Senator 
Vest  speak  as  he  does  on  the  subject  of  Catholic  Indian  Schools, 
and  this  after  looking  into  them  officially,  and  notwithstanding 
all  the  prejudices  in  which  he  declares  he  was  born  and  reared. 
We  cannot  but  feel  grateful  to,  and  heartily  thank  the  Hon. 
Senator  for  his  appreciation  of  our  work  among  the  Indians,  no 
less  than  for  his  brave,  frank  and  manly  way  of  expressing  it. 


Chapter  XXII. 

THE    REV.    JAMES   RAZZINI    VISITS    THE    INDIAN    MISSIONS    OF    THE 
ROCKY  MOUNTAINS.      BRIEF  OF  HIS  HOLINESS,  PIUS  IX. 

IN  1873,  the  Very  Rev.  P.  Beckx,  the  Father-General  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus,  bestowed  on  the  missionaries  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains  a  mark  of  his  special  affection.  He  appointed  Father 
James  Razzini  to  visit  this  part  of  the  Lord's  vineyard,  with  a 
view  to  encourage  the  missionaries  and  to  devise,  after  a  personal 
inspection  of  the  field,  such  means  as  might  best  conduce  to  the 
furtherance  of  the  work.  He  visited  first  the  Missions  in  Idaho 
and  Washington,  and  reached  St.  Ignatius  by  the  close  of  July. 
He  was  favorably  impressed  with  the  country  and  with  the  work 
of  the  Fathers,  and  soon  after  his  return  to  Europe  our  mis- 
sionaries in  the  Rocky  Mountains  were  comforted  by  encouraging 
words  from  the  Father-General  himself.  New  laborers  were 
also  sent  to  their  assistance  at  the  suggestion  of  Father  Razzini. 

This  favor  bestowed  by  the  Father-General  on  the  Indian  Mis- 
sions was  followed  two  years  later  by  another,  a  most  special 
one,  conferred  on  the  Indians  and  Mission  of  St.  Ignatius  by 
His  Holiness,  our  Sovereign  Pontiff,  Pius  IX. 

Having  been  told  by  the  Fathers  how  the  Great  Chief  of  the 
Black  Robes,  the  Vicar  of  Christ  on  earth,  was  the  object  of 
persecution  at  the  hands  of  the  revolutionists  of  Europe  and  in 
particular  of  Italy,  the  Indians  conceived  the  idea  of  conveying 
to  the  Holy  Father  an  expression  of  their  sympathy,  their  loyalty 
and  devotion  to  him  and  to  his  teachings.  They  accompanied 
their  letter  with  presents  of  skins  and  curios.  The  Holy  Father 
was  delighted  at  this  manifestation  of  fidelity  and  love  from 
these  rude  children  of  the  forest,  and  deigned  to  express  his 
gratification  and  pleasure  by  addressing  to  them  under  date  of 
March  8,  1875,  a  brief,  of  which  the  following  is  a  faithful 
translation : 


FATHER  RAZZINI  VISITS  MISSIONS  171 

BELOVED  SONS,   HEALTH   AND  APOSTOLIC  BENEDICTION. 

While  reading  your  letter  we  seemed  to  be  carried  back  to  the 
Apostolic  times  of  the  Church,  when  faith  and  charity  were  so 
flourishing,  as  to  unite  the  faithful  in  one  heart  and  one  soul.  Noth- 
ing, indeed,  could  have  given  us  greater  pleasure,  intensely  grieved 
as  we  are  every  day  by  the  defection  of  many,  who,  infatuated  by 
the  love  of  novelties  in  things  and  opinions,  turn  their  attention 
from  the  truth,  and  fond  of  fables,  go  in  search  of  teachers  for  their 
itching  ears.  But  if  these  unhappy  mortals  wander  away  from  the 
path  of  truth,  you  in  very  deed  do  seek  after  and  follow  it,  clinging 
with  so  much  fidelity  and  affection  unto  this  Chair  of  Truth,  whence 
the  light  of  the  Gospel  goes  forth  to  you.  Yet  the  falling  away  of 
some  among  your  brethren  from  their  vocation,  which  you  deplore, 
shows  that  you  also  are  subject  to  temptation.  But  it  is  necessary 
that  it  should  be  so,  since  man's  life  upon  earth  is  a  warfare,  and  the 
fidelity  of  the  just  is  not  proven,  except  by  the  ordeal  of  temptation. 
Be  firm,  therefore,  in  the  faith  which  you  have  received,  and  turn 
the  very  temptation  into  a  source  of  profit  and  merit,  a  task  which 
certainly  will  not  be  difficult  for  you,  if  with  a  willing  ear  you  listen 
to  the  teaching  and  faithfully  follow  the  advice  of  vour  missionaries, 
who  are  united  with  our  Apostolic  Vicar,  and  through  him  also  with 
us,  by  the  closest  bond  of  faith  and  charity.  The  constancy  main- 
tained by  you,  despite  the  example  of  erring  brethren,  renders  the 
manifestations  of  your  good  will  the  more  acceptable  to  us,  and  makes 
truly  precious  those  gifts,  the  fruit  of  your  industry,  which  you 
were  pleased  to  send  us,  in  token  of  your  filial  affection. 

We  have  been  especially  delighted  with  the  help  of  your  prayers, 
which,  in  union  with  the  supplications  of  all  the  faithful,  can  alone 
obtain  that  Divine  aid  so  much  needed  by  the  Church,  everywhere 
harassed  by  persecution,  and  not  less  demanded  by  the  disturbed 
condition  of  the  nations  throughout  the  world.  Continue,  therefore, 
in  your  prayers,  beloved  sons,  that  you  may  escape  the  dangers  of 
perversion ;  pray  perseveringly  for  us  and  the  whole  Catholic  com- 
munity, that  propitiated  by  your  supplications  and  those  of  all  His 
people,  the  most  merciful  God  may,  at  last,  grant  us  peace  in  these 
our  days  of  so  much  trouble.  We  implore  in  your  behalf  the  mani- 
fold gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  token  of  which  and  as  a  mark  of  our 
paternal  love,  we  most  affectionately  impart  to  you  all,  beloved  sons, 
and  to  each  missionary  in  particular,  our  Apostolic  Benediction. 

Given  at  Rome,  near  St.  Peter's,  on  the  8th  day  of  March,  1875 ; 
in  the  twenty-ninth  year  of  our  Pontificate. 

Pius  PP.  IX. 


172       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

Words  fail  to  express  the  joy  of  these  poor  people  when  they 
were  told  that  the  Holy  Father  had  received  their  letter  and 
little  presents,  and  had  answered  them  and  sent  them  his  blessing. 
Runners  were  at  once  dispatched  in  every  direction  to  broadcast 
the  good  tidings  and  gather  the  Indians  at  the  Mission,  for 
the  day  on  which  the  great  Kaimin,  or  epistle,  the  Apostolic 
Brief,  would  be  read  to  them  from  the  altar.  They  hastened 
to  St.  Ignatius  in  large  numbers.  The  Papal  Brief  was  read 
in  Flat  Head,  Kootenay,  and  English,  the  words  of  the  Holy 
Father  being  listened  to  with  profound  reverence  and  breathless 
attention  and  sinking  deep  into  their  hearts.  The  event  was 
one  never  to  be  forgotten,  and  may  be  said  to  have  marked  a 
new  era  for  our  work  among  the  Indians. 

Four  years  later  another  event  of  importance  took  place. 
Archbishop  Charles  J.  Seghers  visited  the  place  in  the  summer 
of  1879,  and  on  August  3,  he  conferred  the  Sacrament  of  Con- 
firmation on  one  hundred  and  six  people,  and  two  days  after 
on  seven  more.  We  find  a  number  of  priests  doing  honor  to 
the  Archbishop  on  the  occasion :  they  were  the  Rev.  L.  Conrardi, 
of  the  secular  clergy,  and  the  following  Jesuit  Fathers,  J. 
Giorda,  J.  M.  Cataldo,  L.  Van  Gorp,  P.  Tosi,  J.  Bandini,  A. 
Parodi,  and  S.  Lattanzi. 

His  Grace  visited  the  Mission  in  July,  1882,  and  on  this  second 
visit  forty  more  neophytes  received  Confirmation  at  his  hands 
the  last  day  of  the  month,  the  feast  of  St.  Ignatius. 

We  cannot  forbear  mentioning  a  little  occurrence  that  filled 
the  genial  soul  of  the  Archbishop  with  mirth  on  this  latter 
occasion.  While  examining  some  Indians  for  Confirmation 
with  the  help  of  Father  Cataldo,  His  Grace  noticed  in  the  group 
before  him  an  elderly  Kalispel,  whom  he  felt  sure  he  had  con- 
firmed on  a  previous  occasion.  "But  you,  my  son,  have  received 
the  Holy  Ghost  already,"  said  the  Archbishop  to  the  Indian. 
"Yes,  great  Black  Robe,"  answered  the  Indian;  "but  I  lost 
Him;  He  got  drowned  crossing  the  river."  The  poor  fellow 
was  far  from  jesting  or  being  irreverent :  he  only  expressed 
himself  as  best  he  knew.  The  Archbishop  was  wont  to  give 
a  little  medal  to  each  Indian  he  confirmed,  as  a  remembrance 
of  Confirmation;  and  the  old  man  had  lost  his  while  swimming 
across  the  Pend  d'Oreille  River.     He  wanted  another  medal. 


Chapter  XXIII. 

RAPACITY   OF   INDIAN    AGENTS.       AGRICULTURE   AND    MATERIAL 
PROSPERITY  OF  THE  INDIANS  ON  THE  JOCKO  RESERVATION. 

THE  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  O'Connor  speaks  of  the  "heartless 
and  inventive  rapacity  of  Indian  Agents,"  and  we  might 
confirm  the  truthfulness  of  his  words  by  many  an  example 
drawn  from  our  Indian  missionary  life.  We  shall  mention 
only  one  or  two  wherein  both  "the  heartless  and  the  inventive" 
elements  show  forth  rather  conspicuously. 

When  boats  commenced  to  run  on  the  Upper  Missouri,  the 
annual  supplies  for  the  Missions  in  Montana  were  shipped 
from  St.  Louis  to  Fort  Benton,  free  transportation  being  gen- 
erously offered  by  the  steamboat  men,  personal  friends  of  Father 
De  Smet.  The  goods  were  then  transported  over  the  mountain 
roads  to  their  respective  destinations  by  Mission  teams.  One 
year  a£  St.  Ignatius  we  had  no  wagons  that  could  be  sent  on 
such  a  long  rough  trip  without  much  repairing,  and  the  Brother 
who  might  have  repaired  them  being  laid  up  by  sickness,  we 
applied  to  the  Indian  Agent  for  the  loan  of  two  government 
wagons,  which  he  could  easily  spare,  as  they  were  not  in  use. 

Our  request  was  promptly  granted,  and  in  due  time  good 
Brother  Magri,  with  some  Indians  and  the  Mission  teams, 
started  for  the  Agency,  which  lay  on  his  course.  He  there  found 
the  wagons  ready;  but  to  his  surprise  he  found  them  also 
heavily  laden.  Having  asked  the  meaning  of  this,  he  was  told 
by  the  official  that,  "since  the  teams  had  no  load  on  their  way 
out  and  were  to  pass  through  Deer  Lodge,  he  had  concluded 
to  have  them  haul  to  that  place  some  freight  for  him,  on  the 
presumption,  of  course,  that  the  Fathers  could  have  no  objection 
to  his  doing  so." 

This  proceeding  nettled  and  perplexed  the  Brother  consid- 
erably; the  more  so  that  he  had  no  way  of  consulting  his 
Superior  on  the  matter.    Hence,  there  being  no  other  alternative, 


174       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

he  took  the  Agent's  freight  to  Deer  Lodge,  the  man  himself 
managing  to  reach  there  about  the  same  time,  to  dispose  of  it. 

We  must  note  here  that  from  their  brand  the  ox-teams  were 
recognized  as  the  Mission's  all  along  the  road,  while  the  wagons, 
as  everybody  could  see  from  the  letters  painted  on  them,  were 
Government  property. 

A  year  or  so  later,  while  on  the  way  to  Helena  to  purchase 
supplies  for  the  Mission,  the  writer  fell  in  with  a  friend,  a 
well-known  Montana  gentleman,  by  whom  he  was  taunted  as 
follows :  "Why,  Father,  heretofore  no  one  would  have  dreamed 
that  you  Fathers  at  the  Mission  were  in  with  the  rest  to  rob 
the  poor  Indians."  Being  as  yet  somewhat  "green"  about  the 
ways  of  Indian  Agents,  we  did  not  understand  the  gentleman's 
allusion.  A  few  words  of  explanation,  however,  soon  threw 
light  on  the  subject,  and  we  could  not  but  marvel  at  the 
"inventive  and  heartless  rapacity"  that  had  so  cleverly  turned 
the  Cross,  the  Mission  brand,  to  its  own  advantage. 

The  freight  which  the  Indian  Agent  had  thus  shipped  to 
Deer  Lodge  was  a  quantity  of  flour  and  shorts  ground  at  the 
Agency  mill,  from  wheat  which  the  Government  had  appro- 
priated for  the  relief  of  the  Indians,  who,  owing  to  the  failure 
of  their  crops,  were  in  danger  of  starving.  The  worthy  had 
the  stuff  hauled  to  the  mines  by  the  Brother,  simply  as  a  blind 
to  cover  up  the  dishonesty  of  the  shipment,  feeling  quite  sure 
that  nobody  would  ever  suspect  a  transaction  wherein  a  Jesuit 
Brother  and  the  Mission  teams  had  taken  such  a  conspicuous 
part. 

On  another  occasion,  it  being  an  intensely  cold  winter,  we 
applied  to  the  Indian  Agent  for  material  for  clothing  for  our 
school  children.  We  received  two  bolts  of  prints  and  two  of 
unbleached  muslin,,  and  felt  thankful  for  the  bounty.  Some 
three  years  later,  our  attention  was  called  to  an  item  in  the 
Agent's  Official  Report  which  ran  as  follows:  "By  domestics 
furnished  the  Sisters'  school  at  St.  Ignatius,  $1,600.66;  sixteen 
hundred  dollars  and  sixty-six  cents;  this  being  the  actual  amount 
which  that  honest  official  charged  the  Government  for  those 
few  yards  of  unbleached  cotton  and  calico!  After  such  an 
experience,  we  felt  loath  to  ask  any  further  assistance  from 
those  gentlemen,  lest  by  doing  so  we  should  furnish  occasion 


INDIAN  AGENTS  US 

of  practising  their  "heartless  and  inventive  rapacity."    But  to 
return  to  our  Indians. 

Besides  the  three  nations  designated  in  the  Hell's  Gate  treaty 
of  1855,  as  the  Confederated  tribes  of  Flat  Heads,  Pend 
d'Oreilles  and  Kootenays,  the  Indian  community  of  St.  Ignatius 
includes  also  representatives  of  other  tribes.  These  are  a  number 
of  Lower  Pend  d'Oreilles,  as  they  are  called,  several  Colville 
Indians,  some  Spokanes,  a  few  Nez  Perces  and  also  some  Black- 
feet  and  Crees.  The  four  languages  spoken  by  these  people, 
namely,  the  Kalispel  or  Selish,  the  Kootenay,  the  Nez  Perces  and 
the  Blackfeet,  have  no  more  affinity  or  resemblance  with  one 
another  than  Greek  or  Hebrew  with  English. 

How  the  Indian  tribes  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  despite  their 
comparative  proximity  and  notwithstanding  their  being  so  much 
alike  in  other  respects,  can  still  be  so  different  in  tongue  is  a 
problem  that  ethnologists,  so  far  as  we  know,  have  not  yet  been 
able  to  solve  satisfactorily.  Nor  need  we  emphasize  the  fact 
that  this  language  difficulty  has  ever  been  a  most  serious  impedi- 
ment in  the  way  of  efficient  missionary  work  among  the  various 
tribes,  and  is  one  of  many  obstacles  that  render  the  Indian 
Mission  in  this  part  of  the  Northwest  very  hazardous. 

The  natives  on  this  Reservation  are  grouped  into  several 
small  centers  or  villages,  the  principal  one  being  the  Mission 
proper,  which  we  have  already  described.  At  the  southern  end 
of  the  reserve,  near  and  around  the  Agency,  are  located  the 
Flat  Heads,  both  those  who  went  thither  at  the  time  of  the 
Garfield  treaty,  and  the  rest  of  their  brethren,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Chariot,  who  until  quite  recently  had  refused  to  leave 
their  homes  in  the  Bitter  Root  Valley. 

For  the  special  benefit  of  these  and  some  few  other  Indians 
living  in  that  vicinity,  a  chapel  was  built  in  the  locality  by  the 
Fathers  a  few  years  ago.  It  is  a  frame  structure,  28  x  75 
feet,  and  was  dedicated  by  the  Ordinary,  August  4,  1889,  under 
the  title  of  St.  John  Berchmans.  The  corner-stone  had  been 
blessed  by  His  Grace  Archbishop  Seghers,  on  his  second  visitation 
of  western  Montana  in  1882;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
chapel  was  not  erected  until  some  years  after. 

Quite  recently,  a  branch  school  was  opened  in  this  settlement 
for  the  accommodation  of  a  number  of  Indian  children  unable 


176       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

or  unwilling  to  attend  the  central  school  at  St.  Ignatius.  Three 
Ursulines  do  the  teaching,  and  Father  Canestrelli  is  in  charge 
of  the  dependency.  The  simple-minded  Flat  Heads  and  others 
more  intelligent,  are  far  from  even  dreaming  that  their  spiritual 
guide  who  works  so  zealously  to  instruct  them  in  the  rudiments 
of  Christian  doctrine,  had  been  singled  out  as  worthy  to  replace 
a  renowned  master  of  Divinity  in  Rome,  Cardinal  Franzelin. 

Another  Indian  village,  having  also  a  chapel,  but  no  resident 
priest,  lies  at  the  northern  extremity  of  the  Reservation,  and 
occupies  the  little  valley  of  Dayton  Creek,  on  the  west  side  of 
Flat  Head  Lake.  This  Indian  village  is  composed  chiefly  of 
Kootenays,  called  also  Scalze,  a  band  of  thriftless  redskins, 
considerably  addicted  to  drinking  and  gambling,  and  of  an 
unsavory  record  otherwise.  Some  of  these  poor  creatures  spend 
their  time  lounging  round  white  settlements  where  whiskey  can 
be  found  in  plenty ;  thus  bringing  all  the  others  of  the  tribe  into 
disrepute.  Ignace,  their  chief,  is  a  good,  upright,  steady  man, 
esteemed  by  all  who  know  him,  but  his  authority  is  disregarded 
by  many  of  his  wards.*  , 

Father  Philip  Canestrelli  and  other  missionaries  before  him. 
namely,  Fathers  Menetrey,  Grassi,  Tosi,  Bandini,  have  labored 
hard  to  lift  this  wretched  band  of  Indians  from  barbarism. 
But,  all  in  all,  the  result  has  been  rather  discouraging. 

These  Dayton  Creek  Kootenays  are  a  branch  of  a  large  tribe 
of  Kootenays  or  Scalze  who  live  on  what  are  called  Tobacco 
Plains  and  from  whom  they  separated,  or  by  whom,  rather, 
they  were  driven  off  as  castaways  for  misbehavior.  The 
Tobacco  Plains  Kootenays  or  Scalze  are  a  much  better  class 
of  Indians,  and  they  too  were  attended  from  St.  Ignatius  prior 
to  the  drawing  of  the  boundary  line  between  the  United  States 
and  British  Columbia.  They  are  now  looked  after  by  the 
Oblates  M.  I.  under  whose  jurisdiction  lies  the  section  across 
the  line,  while  the  Kootenays  on  the  Dayton  Creek  continue  to  be 
visited  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers  from  St.  Ignatius  Mission.  In 
the  baptismal  records  kept  at  the  Mission  we  find  one  hundred 
and  sixty-one  Scalze  or  Kootenay  adults  baptized  by  Father  U. 
Grassi  in  1863,  within  three  days,  that  is,  between  October  25 
and  28. 

*  P.  Ronan,  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Flat  Head  Indian  Nation. 


INDIAN  AGENTS  W7 

Clusters  of  Indian  cabins  can  also  be  seen  at  Crow  Creek, 
at  the  foot  of  the  lake,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Jocko,  and  in  other 
parts  of  the  Reservation.  All  told  and  including  the  following 
of  Chariot,  the  Indians  number  about  1,900  souls,  a  few  more 
perhaps  than  less. 

The  Mission  records  of  baptisms  and  burials  for  the  last  eight 
years,  that  is,  from  1884  to  1891,  give  521  births  as  against 
467  deaths.  Whence  it  would  appear  that  there  has  been  a 
slight  increase  in  their  numbers. 

The  following  additional  items  which  we  have  taken  from 
the  official  reports  sent  in  to  the  Indian  Department,  will  give 
the  reader  some  further  information  as  to  the  actual  condition 
of  these  Indians  and  their  advance  in  civilization. 

In  1886  sixteen  Indian  families  purchased  from  the  Geneva 
Nursery,  New  York,  at  their  own  expense,  a  number  of  young 
fruit  trees,  such  as  plum,  apple  and  cherry,  and  laid  out  small 
orchards.  In  the  spring  of  the  following  year,  1887,  an  Agent 
of  the  House  of  L.  L.  Man  and  Co.,  nursery  men  of  St.  Paul, 
Minn.,  delivered  to  thirty  more  families  on  this  reservation 
invoices  of  young  fruit  trees  to  the  aggregate  amount  of  $932, 
the  orders  having  been  filled  for  cash  on  delivery.* 

According  to  the  official  report  of  1890,  there  are  in  the 
reservation  some  two  hundred  farms,  from  eight  to  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  each,  enclosed  and  cultivated,  making  an  aggre- 
gate of  over  9,000  acres  of  land  under  cultivation. 

The  Indians  own  severally  some  10,000  head  of  cattle;  5,000 
head  of  horses;  1,200  head  of  swine,  and  from  5,000  to  6,000 
fowl.  The  crop  raised  by  them  the  same  year  was  estimated 
at  45,000  bushels  of  oats,  and  40,000  bushels  of  wheat.  They 
also  raised  a  good  vegetable  crop,  potatoes,  turnips,  cabbage, 
onions,  etc.  A  number  of  these  Indians  live  in  comfortable 
houses,  and  some  have  good  barns  and  outbuildings  for  the 
care  of  agricultural  implements. t 

The  live-stock  owned  by  the  Indians  includes  a  herd  of  com- 
paratively tame  buffalo,  which  can  be  seen  grazing  in  the 
Mission  or  Sinie'lemen  Valley.     The  herd  numbers  some  fifty 

*  Report  Commissioner  Indian  Affairs,  1887.  It  may  be  well  to  add  here 
that  the  first  orchard  of  this  reservation,  and  perhaps  the  first  in  Montana, 
had  been  planted  at  St.  Ignatius  by  the  Fathers  some  twenty  years  before. 

t  Indian  Commissioner's  Report,  1890. 


178       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

head,  all  sprung  from  two  calves  captured  on  the  buffalo  plains 
and  brought  to  St.  Ignatius  in  our  first  days  on  the  place  by 
Indian  Samuel.  But  for  the  head  occasionally  butchered  and 
sold  for  beef  by  the  owner,  the  herd  would  be  today  considerably 
larger.* 

The  official  items  and  figures  here  presented  speak  for  them- 
selves and  show  unmistakably  the  progress  made  by  the  Indians 
in  civilization.  Prior  to  the  Fathers  coming  among  them, 
fifty  years  ago,  not  one  sod  had  been  turned  in  what  is  now 
the  state  of  Montana,  and  sowing  for  crops  was  utterly  unknown 
to  the  natives.  Today  these  children  of  the  forest  compare 
favorably  with  our  thrifty  farming  communities. 

♦The  herd  was  sold  some  years  ago  by  its  original  owner  and  became 
first  the  joint  property  of  Charlie  Allard  and  Michel  Pablo,  but  the  latter 
some  time  after  bought  out  his  partner's  share  and  acquired  the  whole  band 
himself.  Quite  recently  the  buffalo,  now  some  two  hundred  head,  were  sold 
by  Michel  Pablo  to  the  Canadian  Government,  but  a  few  of  them  that  could 
not  be  rounded  up  for  delivery  are  still  roaming  over  the  Mission  Valley. 


Chapter  XXIV. 

DEATH    OF    FATHER    J.    MENETREY.       A    NOTABLE    INDIAN. 
BRO.  VINCENT  MAGRI.      THE  REV.  ANTON  KUHLS. 

WE  SHALL  now  briefly  refer  to  some  of  the  missioners 
who,  at  one  time  or  another  within  the  period  embraced 
by  our  chronicle,  have  been  engaged  in  advancing  the  spiritual 
and  temporal  welfare  of  the  Indians  at  St.  Ignatius. 

Fathers  Adrian  Hoecken  and  Joseph  Menetrey  were  the 
founders  of  the  Mission.  The  former  is  not  only  still  among 
the  living  but  on  active  duty,  being  one  of  the  Fathers  attached 
to  St.  Gall's  Church,  Milwaukee,  Wis.  We  have  before  us  a 
letter  from  him,  dated  November  14,  189 1,  wherein  the  veteran 
Indian  missioner  gives  us  a  number  of  references  for  our  work. 
The  letter  is  written  in  a  legible,  clear,  even  hand  that  is  surpris- 
ing for  a  man  of  his  age.  Father  Hoecken  was  in  charge  of 
the  Mission  at  its  founding  and  for  some  time  afterward. 

Father  Menetrey  was  head  of  the  Mission  for  several  years, 
at  different  periods;  and  there  his  earthly  remains  now  repose, 
buried  among  the  Indians,  waiting  for  the  sound  of  the  Last 
Trumpet.  He  was  born  in  Freiburg,  Switzerland,  November  28, 
1812,  and  entered  the  Society  of  Jesus,  September  29,  1836. 
Some  ten  years  later  he  offered  himself  for  the  Indian  Missions 
in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  sailing  round  Cape  Horn  for 
America,  he  landed  in  Oregon,  August  13,  1847.  From  St. 
Francis  Xavier  on  the  Willamette  he  passed  successively  to 
other  Missions  in  Idaho,  Washington  and  Montana,  toiling 
zealously  and  with  marked  success  among  the  Colville,  the 
Blackfeet,  and  Flat  Head  Indians.  Although  in  every  Indian 
Mission  where  he  did  missionary  duty  can  be  seen  proofs  of 
his  zeal,  industry  and  patient  endurance,  Judgment  Day  alone 
will  reveal  how  much  Father  Menetrey  has  done,  borne  and 
suffered  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  well-being  of  the  red  man. 

As  we  shall  see  in  our  second  part,  Father  Menetrey  was  the 
first  pastor  of  Frenchtown,  and  for  several  years  ministered  to 


180       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

the  spiritual  wants  of  our  Catholic  people  in  the  Hell's  Gate 
Valley.  In  the  fall  of  1874,  he  came  to  Helena  and  was  for 
three  years  one  of  the  Fathers  who  had  the  care  of  this  mis- 
sionary district.  He  attended  the  outside  stations  and  settlements 
in  the  Missouri  and  Boulder  Valleys,  Crow  Creek,  the  two 
Gallatins  and  other  places. 

The  last  years  of  his  missionary  life  were  devoted  to  the 
people  of  Missoula  and  its  surroundings,  where  he  built  up  a 
flourishing  congregation.  Here  his  health  began  to  fail,  but 
he  kept  on  working  until  his  exhausted  strength  compelled  him 
to  retire  from  all  active  duty.  The  worn-out  veteran  now  betook 
himself  to  St.  Ignatius,  with  the  one  object  before  him  of  quietly 
preparing  himself  and  waiting  for  the  summons  that  should 
bid  him  enter  into  the  joy  of  the  Master,  in  whose  vineyard 
he  had,  in  all  truth,  borne  the  burden  of  the  day  and  the  heats 
for  almost  half  a  century.  The  summons  came  and  the  good 
and  faithful  servant  went  to  the  Lord,  April  27,  1891. 

It  may  be  well  to  note  that  on  April  27,  the  closing  day  of  the 
Father's  pilgrimage  on  earth,  occurs  the  feast  of  Blessed  Peter 
Canisius,  whom  the  departed  had  chosen,  cherished  and  venerated 
through  his  whole  life  as  his  special  patron.  As  the  Blessed 
never  fail  to  requite  the  homage  tendered  them  by  their  clients, 
we  may  well  read  in  the  occurrence  something  more  than  mere 
coincidence.  His  obsequies  were  attended  by  a  large  concourse 
of  Indians,  nearly  one  thousand  of  them  receiving  Holy  Com- 
munion that  morning  for  the  repose  of  his  soul. 

He  went  with  the  Indians  by  the  name  of  Pel  Lemene.  As 
previously  stated,  these  people  have  no  "r,"  which  they  replace 
by  "1."  Hence  the  Pere  they  make  Pel,  and  Menetrey  became 
Lemene. 

Others  who  at  one  time  or  another  within  the  period  covered 
by  our  narrative  labored  in  this  field,  were  the  following :  Fathers 
Louis  Vercrysse,  Gregory  Gazzoli,  Joseph  Giorda,  Jos.  Caruana, 
Urban  Grassf,  James  Vanzina,  Anthony  Ravalli,  Pascal  Tosi, 
Jos.  M.  Cataldo,  Jos.  Bandini,  and  the  writer.  Also,  Fathers 
Jos.  Guidi,  Alexander  Diomedi,  Aloysius  Folchi,  Leopold  Van 


SOME  NOTABLES  181 

Gorp,  Aloysius   Parodi,   Jerome   d'Aste,   Phil.    Canestrelli,   and 
James  Rebmann.* 

Of  the  Coadjutor  Brothers  who  took  an  efficient  part  in 
founding  or  carrying  on  this  and  other  Missions  in  Montana, 
two,  William  Claessens  and  Joseph  Specht,  have  already  been 
mentioned.  To  these  we  must  now  add  Brother  Vincent  Magri, 
who,  as  we  stated  elsewhere,  came  to  St.  Mary's  in  1844.  He 
was  a  skilled  mechanic  and  spent  a  considerable  part  of  his 
missionary  life  here  at  St.  Ignatius,  where  he  had  charge  of 
the  saw  and  flour  mills,  and  where  he  became  quite  a  favorite 
with  the  Indians.  An  occurrence  connected  with  his  death  and 
quite  out  of  the  ordinary  is  well-worth  recording. 

There  lived  at  St.  Ignatius  an  old  Kalispel  Indian  by  name 
Quilquilzo'm,  which  means  "white  bones,"  and  who  most  likely 
had  been  called  so  because  of  his  complexion,  which  was  as 
fair  as  a  white  man's.  We  never  saw  a  nobler  mien  and  a 
more  prepossessing  appearance  than  this  venerable  old  Indian's. 
He  had  been  baptized  Venantius,  rendered  into  Pinasso.  He 
wore  a  few  straggling  hairs  on  his  chin,  the  only  pretence  to 
a  beard  ever  seen  on  an  Indian  by  the  writer.  He  spoke  his 
native  tongue  with  unwonted  grace  and  clearness,  and  precisely 
because  of  that  he  had  been  of  much  help  to  all  our  missionaries 
whilst  learning  the  language. 

He  was  a  man  of  singular  piety,  for  he  measured  the  distance 
between  places  by  the  number  of  Rosaries  he  could  recite  in 
going  from  one  to  the  other,  and  never  pitched  his  tepee,  save 
close  to  the  church,  if  this  were  possible.  'The  House  of  Prayer" 
was  ever  uppermost  in  his  mind.  The  Fathers  employed  him 
in  the  capacity  of  catechist,  to  lead  in  prayer,  watch  over  the 
children  at  church  and  the  like,  tasks  which  he  dearly  loved 
to  perform. 

While  fishing  one  day  at  the  foot  of  Flat  Head  Lake  he 
saw  an  unusual  sight.  It  burst  on  him  all  of  a  sudden,  and 
as  he  expressed  himself,  it  seemed  to  take,  together  with  his 
breath,  his  very  soul  away  from  him.  He  dropped  his  line 
and  hastened  to  the  Mission.     "I  saw  Sinze  Chitas,"  said  he 

♦  We  give  the  names  in  their  chronological  order,  and  as  our  narrative 
ends  with  the  close  of  1891,  we  mention  none  but  those  who  have  done 
mission  or  school  work  at  St.  Ignatius  prior  to  that  date. 


i&2       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

abruptly  and  with  great  emphasis  on  entering  the  room  where 
the  writer  and  Father  J.  Bandini  happened  to  be  sitting  together. 
He  raised  his  eyes  and  both  his  arms  toward  the  sky,  and  all 
aglow  with  animation;  "I  saw  him,"  he  continued,  "riding  in 
a  most  beautiful  thing." 

The  only  description  he  could  give  of  the  "beautiful  thing" 
in  which  he  had  seen  the  Brother  ride  through  the  skies,  was 
that  it  resembled  a  two-wheel  vehicle,  the  like  of  which  he 
had  never  seen  before,  and  that  it  was  all  resplendent  and  of 
surpassing  beauty. 

We  may  note  here  first  that  Sinze  is  the  Indian  for  Brother, 
while  Chitds  means  thin,  spare,  wanting  in  flesh  or  skinny,  which 
is  exactly  the  meaning  of  the  Italian  word  magro;  and  as  Bro- 
ther Magri  was  uncommonly  lean,  his  name  and  appearance  were 
strikingly  in  keeping  with  each  other.  This  good  Brother  whom 
the  Indians,  as  just  said,  called  Sinze  Chitds,  had  been  trans- 
ferred to  the  Coeur  d'Alenes  Mission  the  year  before.  Hence 
we  did  not  know  what  to  think  or  make  of  our  good  Indian's 
story  until  several  days  after,  that  is,  until  we  received  due 
notice  of  the  Brother's  death,  which  had  occurred  June  18,  at 
Lewiston,  Idaho,  some  four  hundred  miles  away  from  St. 
Ignatius.  Upon  comparing  dates,  we  were  forced  to  conclude 
that  the  Master  of  the  vineyard  had  rewarded  His  faithful 
servant's  many  and  wearisome  journeys  across  these  mountains 
by  giving  him  a  glorious  chariot  ride  to  the  realm  above. 

We  shall  now  bring  the  local  history  of  this  Mission  to  a 
close  with  the  following,  which  is  from  the  pen  of  the  Rev. 
Anton  Kuhls,  a  well  known  and  highly  esteemed  ecclesiastic 
from  Kansas,  who  visited  St.  Ignatius  in  company  with  the 
Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Brondel  in  1887. 

Traveling  on  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  about  150  miles  west 
of  Helena,  the  capital  of  Montana,  you  reach  a  small  station  named 
after  one  of  the  great  missionaries  of  this  region,  Father  Ravalli. 
You  travel  through  one  of  the  most  picturesque  sections  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  crossing  the  famous  iron  trestle  226  feet  high  and 
several  hundred  feet  in  length.  Being  in  the  company  of  Bishop 
Brondel,  of  Helena,  I  was  favored  with  a  novel  sight.  Arriving  at 
the  station  as  early  as  6  A.  M.,  crowds  of  Indians  on  horseback  were 
found  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  Bishop,  and  immediately  escorted 
him,  in  their  peculiar  fashion,  to  the  Mission.     The  inexpressible 


SOME  NOTABLES  183 

happiness  which  beamed  from  their  faces  told  more  plainly  than 
words  their  devotion  to  the  church  and  their  love  for  her  representa- 
tive. The  country  around  the  Mission  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
to  be  found  in  America.  Had  we  a  Dante  or  a  Virgil,  there  he  would 
live,  to  gather  inspiration  for  his  epic.  It  must  be  seen  to  be  appre- 
ciated, and  I  will  not  attempt  a  description,  through  fear  of  marring 
the  picture's  sublime  beauty. 

When  the  Bishop  arrived  at  the  church,  though  it  was  still  early 
in  the  morning,  nearly  the  whole  tribe  had  gathered  there  to  greet 
him.  They  had  erected  an  arbor  of  evergreens  extending  some  dis- 
tance from  the  entrance  of  the  church.  In  this  arbor  they  knelt  in 
files  on  each  side  of  the  pathway,  and  received  the  Bishop's  blessing 
as  he  passed  on  to  celebrate  mass  for  his  dear  and  simple  children 
of  the  forest.  The  mass  being  ended,  the  Fathers  prepared  to  hear 
confessions.  All  day  the  church  was  crowded  to  overflowing  with 
brown  forms,  wrapped  in  blankets,  patiently  waiting  their  turns  at 
the  confessionals,  and  three  Fathers  were  kept  constantly  busy  until 
eleven  o'clock  at  night.  The  next  day  being  Sunday  and  the  Feast 
of  St.  Ignatius,  from  five  o'clock  A.  M.  until  seven  at  night  the 
church  was  almost  constantly  crowded  with  Indians.  The  whole, 
tribe  partook  of  the  Bread  of  Angels.  Never  and  on  no  occasion 
during  the  twenty-five  years  of  my  priesthood  have  I  witnessed 
devotion  so  pure  and  simple  as  I  did  on  this  Feast  of  St.  Ignatius. 

During  the  afternoon  the  Indian  children,  nearly  200  in  number, 
gave  an  exhibition  in  the  open  air  in  the  presence  of  the  whole  tribe 
and  a  great  number  of  white  visitors.  Their  exhibition  would  have 
been  a  credit  to  any  white  school  in  the  States.  Besides  mere  book- 
learning  these  boys  and  girls  learn  useful  trades  and  all  domestic 
duties.  The  girls'  school  is  conducted  by  the  Sisters  of  Providence, 
and  never  I  have  seen  a  school  where  the  heart  and  the  spirit  of  the 
teachers  is  so  visibly  and  tangibly  imprinted  upon  the  whole  being 
of  their  pupils  as  in  this  one. 

We  were  given  a  most  touching  proof  of  Indian  generosity.  Dur- 
ing the  celebration  of  High  Mass,  Bishop  Brondel  stated  that  the 
Holy  Father  would  celebrate  this  year  his  Golden  Jubilee  and  that 
all  his  children  would  offer  him  presents  as  tokens  of  their  love. 
He  made  use  of  three  sentences  which  were  made  known  to  the 
Indians  through  an  interpreter,  the  Rev.  Father  Cataldo,  and  a  scene 
followed  that  my  pen  can  never  describe.  As  soon  as  the  mass  was 
over  and  during  the  greater  part  of  the  afternoon  the  poor  Indians 
wrapped  in  their  blankets,  as  poor  as  the  poorest  of  God's  creatures, 
came  one  after  another  into  the  Bishop's  presence,  placing  at  his  feet 
offerings  so  various,  so  numerous,  so  unique,  and  with  such  child-like 


184       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

simplicity,  love  and  hearty  affection,  as  to  move  us  to  tears.  One 
poor  old  woman  brought  a  string  of  wild  carrots  and  bitter  roots, 
gathered  for  her  own  support,  volunteering  to  fast  herself,  that  the 
Holy  Father  might  enjoy  a  meal.  Another  pulled  off  her  ear-rings; 
still  another  her  breast-pin.  A  young  girl  of  eighteen  sacrificed  her 
only  ornament,  a  beautiful  belt.  Pipes,  knives,  fancy  cases,  and  a 
hundred  other  things  continued  to  swell  the  pile  before  the  Bishop. 
Besides  all  this  they  brought  $800  in  cash  as  a  final  offering.  Con- 
sidering all  the  articles,  and  the  value  the  Indians  placed  on  them,  I 
doubt  whether  a  single  congregation  of  Americans  will  ever  bring 
such  a  sacrifice  as  these  children  of  the  woods.  May  God  bless  Saint 
Ignatius. 

Thus  the  Rev.  Anton  Kuhls;  and  we  may  add  in  parentheses, 
that,  with  the  exception  of  the  Jubilee  offering,  all  the  rest 
described  by  the  Rev.  visitor  takes  place  each  year  on  the  feast 
of  the  Mission  Patron  Saint. 

By  way  of  complement,  as  well  as  in  compliance  with  the 
express  wish  of  our  Superiors,  we  here  subjoin  in  chronological 
order  the  names  of  those  who  have  been  in  charge  of  the  Mission 
from  the  closing  years  of  our  narrative,  namely,  1891.  They 
were  Fathers  John  B.  Rene;  Paul  Muset;  George  de  la  Motte; 
Francis  X.  Dillon;  Jerome  D'Aste;  Leopold  Van  Gorp;  Ludovic 
Taelman;  again,  George  de  la  Motte;  Joseph  Bruckert  and 
the  present  incumbent,  Ambrose  Sullivan. 

We  may  add  further,  that  two  white  settlements  have  since 
sprung  up  in  the  Mission  Valley,  Poison  at  the  foot  of  Flat 
Head  Lake,  where  a  church  costing  some  $3,000,  has  been 
erected  by  Fr.  Taelman;  and  Ronan,  which  lies  about  halfway 
between  the  former  place  and  Saint  Ignatius,  and  where  also 
a  neat  church  has  been  built  by  Father  E.  Griva,  an  indefatigable 
worker  on  this  field.  It  is  all  some  progress,  beyond  doubt;  but 
it  also  spells  the  rapid  passing  of  the  red  man. 

These  churches  are  now  taken  care  of  by  resident  secular 
priests  of  the  Helena  Diocese. 


Chapter  XXV. 

st.  peter's  mission — the  blackfeet  Indians,     first 

missionary  work  among  them.    the  fathers 

o.  m.  i.    father  nicholas  point,  s.  j. 

THE  object  of  this  Mission  was  to  bring  the  truths  of 
Christianity  to  the  Blackfeet  Indians,  who  were  in  the  early 
days  one  of  the  most  numerous  and  most  powerful  tribes  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  Their  country  lay  to  the  east  of  the 
main  Rockies,  from  the  46th  to  the  59th  parallel,  and  within 
the  29th  and  30th  degrees  of  longitude  west  from  Washington. 

The  region  is  an  immense  expanse  of  rolling  prairies,  with 
scarcely  any  timber.  It  has  but  a  few  insignificant  clusters 
of  mountains,  the  principal  ones  being  the  Bear  Paw,  the  Belt 
and  the  Judith  Mountains,  the  Little  Rockies,  so-called,  and 
further  north,  the  Sweet  Grass  Hills.  Here  and  there  can  be 
seen  detached  elevations  rising  abruptly  from  the  general  level 
of  the  surrounding  plains.  These  straggling  mounds  or 
isolated  elevations  of  different  form  and  shape — some  oblong, 
some  round  and  others  square  (called  Buttes  in  Montana),  are 
natural  curiosities,  and  a  puzzle  to  geologists. 

The  country  is  watered  by  the  Missouri,  the  Milk  River,  the 
Marias,  the  Teton  and  a  number  of  smaller  streams.  It  was 
the  home  of  the  buffalo  where,  as  late  as  the  early  sixties,  they 
roamed  and  swarmed  in  countless  herds.  Within  the  last  twenty 
years,  however,  the  greed  and  wantonness  of  modern  civilization 
have  almost  utterly  exterminated  this  once  noble  king  of  the 
prairies. 

The  Blackfeet  nation  is  composed  of  three  principal  groups 
or  families,  having  different  names,  but  all  speaking  the  same 
language.  They  are  the  Blackfeet  proper,  named  in  their  tongue 
Siksikana;  the  Piegans  or  Pikani,  and  the  Bloods,  whose  Indian 
name  is  Kaenna.  The  Siksikana  or  Blackfeet  proper,  had  their 
home    on    the    borderland    between    British    America    and    the 


186       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

United  States.  When  the  boundaries  were  defined  they  found 
themselves  on  British  soil ;  there  they  have  remained. 

This  portion  of  the  Blackfoot  nation  is  now  under  the  spiritual 
care  of  the  Oblates  M.  I.  who  are  engaged  in  missionary  work 
over  a  great  part  of  British  America.  By  their  zeal  these  men 
of  God  have  brought  into  the  fold  and  formed  into  fervent 
Christian  communities  a  large  number  of  wild  Indian  tribes 
along  the  Saskatchewan  and  the  Mackenzie  rivers,  and  through- 
out the  northwestern  Territory  of  British  Columbia.  Father 
A.  Lacombe,  O.  M.  I.,  the  apostle  of  that  country,  has  been  at 
work  among  the  nortrern  tribes  nearly  half  a  century,  and  in 
the  whole  of  British  America  there  is  today  no  missionary  more 
famed  and  more  revered. 

We  leave  the  Siksikana  where  they  belong,  in  the  good  hands 
of  the  Oblate  Fathers ;  and  from  this  on  whenever  the  name 
Blackfeet  occurs  in  these  pages,  it  is  to  be  understood  as  applying 
principally  and  almost  exclusively  to  that  branch  of  the  nation 
living  in  Montana,  namely,  to  the  South  Piegans. 

Two  other  tribes  should  here  also  be  mentioned,  the  Gros 
Ventres  and  the  Assiniboines,  who  occupy  the  central  part  of 
the  country  described  above,  lying  mostly  between  the  banks 
of  the  Milk  River  and  the  Little  Rockies.  Though  sometimes 
spoken  of  as  Blackfeet,  they  spring  from  independent  stocks, 
as  clearly  shown  by  their  language,  their  tongues  having  nothing 
in  common  with  each  other,  nor  with  the  Blackfoot.  There 
seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  the  Gros  Ventres  have  come  from 
the  race  of  Rapahoes,  who  were  roaming  over  the  plains  of 
New  Mexico  and  along  the  Platte  and  the  Nebraska  rivers, 
"whence,"  says  Father  De  Smet,  "a  century  and  a  half  ago 
they  migrated  to  their  present  home." 

The  Assiniboines  are  a  branch  of  the  Sioux  or  Dakotas,  whose 
language  they  also  speak.  They  are  the  Sioux  of  the  "Moun- 
tains," Assini  in  their  tongue  standing  for  mountains  or  rocks, 
and  Boines  for  Sioux.  As  related  by  Father  De  Smet,  they 
separated  themselves  from  the  rest  because  of  a  squabble  between 
two  women,  the  wives  of  the  two  great  chiefs.  A  buffalo 
had  been  killed,  and  each  of  the  two  women  insisted  upon 
having  the  whole  heart  of  the  animal  for  herself.  From  words 
they  came  to  blows.     The  two  great  chiefs  were  foolish  enough 


ST.  PETER'S  MISSION  187 

to  take  the  part  of  their  respective  better  halves,  and  separated 
with  their  followers.  From  that  time  the  two  tribes  have  been 
at  war. 

Father  Nicholas  Point,  who  spent  the  winter  of  1846-47  among 
the  Blackfeet  and  Gros  Ventres,  gives  some  interesting  details 
about  them.  "The  Gros  Ventres  of  the  plains,"  he  tells  us, 
"have  an  advantage  over  the  others  in  being  more  adroit,  more 
docile  and  more  courageous,  but  they  are  more  strongly  attached 
to  their  superstitions."  And  again:  "If  the  Gros  Ventres  were 
less  importunate,  I  would  willingly  call  them  the  Flat  Heads 
of  the  Missouri.  They  have  something  of  their  simplicity  and 
their  bravery." 

Of  the  Pikani  or  Piegans  he  speaks  as  follows:  "They  are 
the  most  civilized,  but  the  most  noted  thieves.  If  they  can 
rob  adroitly  and  in  large  value  from  an  enemy  of  their  nation, 
they  never  fail  to  do  so.  Not  seldom  even  friendly  tribes  were 
the  victims  of  the  thieving  propensities  of  these  Indians. 

"The  Bloods,"  as  we  learn  from  the  same  Father,,  '"are 
well  formed,  and  generally  less  dirty;  while  the  Blackfeet  proper 
are  said  to  be  the  most  hospitable.  Such,"  adds  Father  Point, 
"are  the  most  prominent  traits  of  these  four  nations  so  long 
at  war  with  almost  all  their  neighbors,  and  sometimes  among 
themselves." 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  they  are  addicted  to  the  grossest 
polygamy,  these  savages  visited  the  faithlessness  of  a  married 
woman  with  a  very  peculiar  and  lasting  retribution.  A  wife, 
if  found  untrue  to  her  liege  lord,  is  forthwith  and  inexorably 
dismissed  minus  her  nose,  which  the  man  strikes  off  with  a 
knife  in  the  act  of  dismissal,  as  an  evidence  to  the  whole  tribe 
of  her  guilt  and  repudiation,  and  as  a  punishment  of  her 
misconduct. 

Here  it  may  be  observed  that  with  the  red  man  of  the  North- 
west the  nose  is  the  expression  of  one's  whole  personality  or 
his  Ego,  an  Indian  always  touching  significantly  the  tip  of  his 
nose  when  speaking  of  himself.  Whence  it  would  seem  that 
among  them  such  nasal  amputation  carries  much  more  than 
whites  would  attach  to  it. 

Should  the  unfortunate  creature  be  taken  by  another  man 
and  again  prove  untrue,  her  second  dismissal  is  marked  by  cut- 


188       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

ting  off  one  or  both  her  ears.  The  custom  was  indeed  harsh 
and  even  barbarous,  but  does  it  not  show  in  its  own  way  how 
much  marital  fidelity  is  respected  and  valued  even  by  savages? 
Though  occasionally  a  deformed,  mutilated  beauty  could  be 
seen  among  these  Indians,  as  we  learn  from  the  missionaries, 
the  case  was  of  rare  occurrence.  The  sanction  proved  effective; 
and  though  directly  aimed  at  checking  the  wantonness  of  the 
wild  woman,  it  restrained  indirectly  the  lust  and  lewd  cravings 
of  the  wild  man. 

God  forbid,  that  we  should  advocate  savage  methods  for 
civilized  people.  Still,  it  might  be  questioned  whether  the  system 
of  these  barbarians  would  not  be  preferable  to  the  divorce 
courts  of  many  of  our  so-called  cultured  communities,  and 
prove  in  the  end  more  beneficial  to  the  human  family.  In  the 
Old  Dispensation  God's  own  Law  stoned  to  death  the  offence, 
a  punishment  surely  greater  than  the  loss  of  one's  nose  and  ears. 

Father  Point  estimated  the  number  of  these  Indians  at  about 
one  thousand  lodges,  or  nearly  10,000  souls;  and  he  tells  us 
that  :  "This  is  not  half  of  what  they  were  before  the  smallpox 
was  introduced  among  them."  He  says,  further  on:  "The 
women  constitute  two-thirds  if  not  three-fourths  of  the  whole 
number,"  adding  at  the  same  time:  "This  inequality,  so  baneful 
to  morals,  is  the  result  of  the  continuous  warfare  of  these  people 
with  neighboring  tribes." 

The  greatest  obstacle  in  the  way  of  their  conversion  to 
Christianity  was  polygamy,  to  which  these  Indians  were  grossly 
addicted.  The  chiefs,  wrote  Father  Point,  "would  listen 
willingly  to  us,  could  we  but  make  terms  with  them  on  the 
article  of  plurality  of  wives."  Nevertheless,  they  were  all 
anxious  to  have  the  Black  Robes  remain  in  their  midst,  "and 
every  returning  spring,"  says  Father  De  Smet,  "they  send  press- 
ing invitations  to  that  effect."  But  no  permanent  Mission  was 
founded  among  them  till  1859,  though  its  establishment  had 
been  in  contemplation  for  several  years. 

Missionary  work  among  a  few  of  these  Indians  was 
first  done  by  Father  De  Smet  in  1840,  on  his  return  to  St. 
Louis,  when  he  met  them  along  the  Missouri.  On  Christmas 
day  of  the  following  year,  as  related  in  the  history  of  that 
Mission,  he  baptized  at  St.   Mary's  one  of  the  head  men  of 


ST.  PETER'S  MISSION  189 

the  tribe  with  his  whole  family.  Some  three  years  later  he 
visited  the  Blackfeet  in  their  own  country  and  baptized  a  number 
of  their  children.  On  this  occasion  he  had  a  novel  experience, 
a  little  adventure  tinged  with  romance,  no  less  amusing  than 
surprising. 

He  had  addressed  through  his  interpreter  a  gathering  of 
Indians  who  sat  on  the  side  of  a  hill,  the  chiefs  and  notables 
above  and  the  common  crowd  below.  As  soon  as  he  had 
finished  his  instruction,  one  of  the  chiefs  came  down  to  shake 
hands  with  him,  saluting  him  in  very  good  English  and  telling 
him,  besides,  that  he  had  a  rather  poor  interpreter.  "These 
people,"  said  the  Blackfoot  chief,  "are  deeply  interested  in 
what  you  have  preached  to  them,  but  your  interpreter  did  not 
put  it  before  them  in  the  proper  way."  "But  you,  please,  sir, 
where  did  you  learn  English?"  asked  Father  De  Smet  in  amaze- 
ment. "Faith!  in  Ireland,"  replied  the  Blackfoot  chief.  The 
Irishman,  for  such  he  was,  went  on  with  his  story  telling  how 
he  had  wandered  to  the  border  settlements  of  the  Northwest, 
where  he  had  become  too  fond  of  drink;  how  he  fell  in  with 
an  old  friend,  a  trader  in  the  Indian  country,  who  took  him 
along,  to  save  him  from  whiskey.  He  conceived  a  liking  for 
the  redskins  and  had  lived  among  them  ever  since.  In  a  war 
with  some  hostile  tribe  he  had  distinguished  himself,  and 
they  had  made  him  a  chief.  "After  that,"  said  he,  "I  married 
a  squaw  as  well  as  I  could,  where  no  sight  of  a  priest  was  to 
be  had,  and  I  have  five  papooses  whom  I  have  baptized  myself, 
as  well  as  I  knew  how.  But  I'd  like  your  Reverence  to  do  it 
all  over  for  me  and  do  it  right  this  time." 

The  next  missionary  to  visit  the  Blackfeet  was  Father  N. 
Point,  who  spent  a  whole  winter  among  them.  He  made  his 
headquarters  at  Fort  Louis,  a  trading-post  of  the  American  Fur 
Company,  which  was  located  a  few  miles  below  Fort  Benton. 
While  in  their  midst,  he  examined  their  dispositions  with  regard 
to  a  permanent  Mission,  and  on  this  subject  he  wrote  as  follows 
to  Father  De  Smet:  "Among  the  different  camps  there  is  a 
species  of  emulation  as  to  who  will  have  the  Black  Robes  on 
their  lands.  Concerning  this  I  have  decided  nothing;  I  have 
only  stated  that  in  case  a  Reduction  were  formed,  the  Mission 


iqo       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

would  be  built  in  the  locality  which  would  afford  the  greatest 
advantages  to  all  the  tribes  taken  collectively." 

Father  Point  was  recalled  to  the  Indian  Missions  of  Upper 
Canada,  but  he  left  behind  him  proofs  of  great  efficiency  and 
remarkable  zeal.  He  visited  the  different  bands,  spending  with 
each  several  weeks;  and  being  a  skilful  artist  he  won  the  good 
will  and  esteem  of  the  chiefs  by  painting  their  portraits.  He 
gave  daily  three  instructions  in  Christian  doctrine,  one  to  the 
men,  another  to  the  women,  and  a  third  to  the  young  folk. 
Having  translated  the  ordinary  prayers  into  Blackfoot  by  means 
of  an  interpreter,  he  taught  them  to  young  and  old,  all  being 
most  eager  to  memorize  and  recite  the  prayers  in  common. 

But  what  seemed  to  specially  impress  these  wild  children  of 
the  prairies  was  the  sign  of  the  Cross:  "There  is  scarcely  any 
camp  among  the  Blackfeet,"  says  Father  Point,  "in  which  the 
sign  of  the  Cross  is  not  held  in  veneration  and  practised." 
Indeed,  such  was  their  reverence  for  the  sign  of  our  Redemption, 
that  they  would  harm  no  one,  not  even  a  deadly  foe,  if  he  had 
a  cross  about  him  or  if  he  knew  how  to  bless  himself.  This 
became  so  well  known  among  the  whites  that  even  non-Catholics 
and  men  of  no  religion,  if  they  had  to  travel  over  the  Blackfoot 
country,  where  at  this  time  no  white  man's  life  was  safe,  would 
learn  to  make  the  sign  of  the  Cross,  and  not  fail,  besides,  to 
carry  with  them  a  little  cross,  were  it  but  in  the  form  of  a 
breast-pin  or  a  watch-charm.  The  sign  or  emblem  would 
most  likely  prove  their  best  protection  from  attack. 

As  one  of  many  instances  of  the  kind,  we  may  cite  that  of 
Captain  J.  Cooke,  of  Whitehall,  Montana,  and  a  couple  of  com- 
panions, all  three  non-Catholics.  They  had  come  to  our 
Territory  by  way  of  Fort  Benton,  to  go  to  the  gold  mines 
of  Alder  Gulch,  just  when  the  Blackfeet  Indians  were  most 
hostile  to  the  whites.  While  in  camp  near  Sun  River  they 
were  surprised  by  a  large  party  of  savages,  and  having  no  chance 
of  escape,  they  expected  any  moment  to  be  slain.  Suddenly  a 
few  of  the  Indians  by  the  faint  light  of  the  campfire  caught 
sight  of  something  like  a  cross,  hanging  from  Captain  Cooke's 
watch-guard.  They  looked  carefully  at  the  thing;  glanced  at 
one  another;  made  some  more  signs  and  muttered  a  few  words, 
as  though  undecided  what  they  would  do.     Upon  this,  Captain 


ST.  PETER'S  MISSION  191 

Cooke  bethought  himself  of  the  sign  of  the  Cross  which  Mat 
Carroll,  one  of  the  fur-traders  at  Fort  Benton,  had  taught  him 
as  a  probable  safeguard  in  such  an  emergency.  He  blessed 
himself  with  great  solemnity  before  the  crowd  of  redskins. 
At  once,  the  whole  scene  was  changed  as  if  by  magic.  The 
savages,  who  up  to  that  moment  had  blood  in  their  eyes  and 
murder  in  their  hearts,  became  friendly:  they  shook  hands  with 
him  and  his  companions  and  bade  them  to  go  their  way 
unmolested.  Other  whites  who  did  not  know  or  made  no  use 
of  the  secret,  had  been  massacred  without  mercy  in  that  same 
vicinity  a  short  time  before.  The  writer  learned  these  details 
from  Captain  Cooke  himself. 

While  among  these  Indians,  Father  Point  performed  and. 
recorded  in  due  form,  667  baptisms.  All  were  in  such  disposi- 
tions, he  tells  us,  that  only  one  word  on  his  part  would  have 
been  necessary  to  enable  him  to  baptize  with  their  consent  all 
the  children,  from  the  oldest  down  to  those  of  only  one  day, 
the  mothers  bringing  the  little  ones  to  him  of  their  own  free 
will.  "I  could  have  baptized  a  number  of  adults,"  he  further 
declares;  "they  seemed  to  desire  it  ardently;  but  these  desires 
did  not  spring  as  yet  from  the  true  principles  of  religion." 
There  seemed  to  exist  among  them  a  persuasion  that  when 
they  had  received  baptism  they  could  conquer  any  enemy.  The 
courage  and  happiness  of  the  Flat  Heads  appeared  to  have 
given  the  Blackfeet  this  belief ;  "which  explains,"  says  Father 
Point,  "why  some  of  these  wretches,  who  seek  only  to  kill  their 
neighbors,  were  the  first  to  ask  to  be  baptized." 

Many  of  these  people  appeared  also  to  be  under  the  impression 
that  the  Black  Robe  could  heal  all  bodily  diseases,  and  make 
the  earth  quake  and  the  thunder  roll  at  pleasure.  One  day  the 
Gros  Ventres  brought  to  the  Father  a  hunchback  and  another 
individual  who  was  very  short-sighted,  that  he  might  cure  them. 
It  proved  no  easy  task  to  make  the  Indians  understand  that 
to  work  such  cures  was  not  in  the  power  of  the  Black  Robe, 
who  could  heal  the  soul,  but  not  always  the  body.  About  this 
time  there  occurred  in  the  country  of  the  Gros  Ventres  a  severe 
earthquake,  and  the  rumor  went  abroad  that  the  missionary 
was  the  cause  of  the  earth's  illness,  and  that,  in  consequence, 
the  dread  smallpox  would  soon  stalk  again  through  their  land. 


192       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

Several  signs  of  what  seemed  Divine  Justice  against  some 
who  belittled  the  counsels  of  the  priest  contributed  noticeably  to 
change  the  minds  and  the  heart  of  many  of  the  Indians  and 
dispose  them  to  receive  the  faith.  Father  Point  refers  to  at 
least  twelve  individuals  suddenly  struck  down  by  death,  one 
way  or  another,  and  just  when  they  were  straying  most  widely 
from  the  right  path. 

But  what  a  loss  did  not  these  poor  children  of  the  forest 
sustain  with  the  departure  from  among  them  of  Father  Point !« 
Assigned  to  the  Missions  of  Upper  Canada,  he  left  Fort  Louis 
in  the  spring  of  1847,  ar*d  from  that  date  until  several  years 
later  the  Blackfeet  Indians  remained  entirely  abandoned. 

Some  Protestant  missionaries  in  the  meanwhile  sought  to 
occupy  the  field  by  starting  a  Mission  of  their  own  at  Fort 
Benton,  but  the  undertaking  proved  a  failure.  The  men  who 
were  given  the  charge  became  aware  before  very  long  that  the 
Indians  did  not  want  them.  Hence,  after  disposing  of  their 
books  and  other  effects,  some  of  which  were  purchased  by 
Father  A.  Hoecken,  the  preachers  pulled  up  stakes  and  left  for 
other  pastures. 

It  has  been  reliably  stated  that  in  1858,  at  the  suggestion  of 
Father  De  Smet,  Mr.  Vaughn,  the  U.  S.  Agent  over  these  tribes, 
forwarded  to  the  Father  General  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  a 
petition  from  these  people  entreating  that  Black  Robes  might 
be  sent  to  them  to  instruct  them  in  the  teachings  of  Christianity. 
It  was  most  likely  in  consequence  of  such  an  appeal  that  the 
first  steps  were  now  taken  toward  establishing  a  permanent 
Mission  among  them,  and  that  Father  A.  Hoecken  and  Brother 
Magri  were  assigned  by  Father  Congiato,  the  general  Superior 
of  the  Indian  Missions  in  this  part  of  the  Northwest,  to  look 
up  a  suitable  location. 

The  two  missionaries  arrived  among  the  Blackfeet  in  April 
of  1859,  and  spent  the  whole  summer  following  the  Indians 
from  place  to  place,  keeping  their  eyes  open  for  a  convenient 
site  whereon  the  new  Mission  could  be  located.  The  first  spot 
they  chose  was  on  the  banks  of  the  Teton  River,  close  to  where 
Choteau  stands  today.*     Hence  the  name  Priest's  Butte  given 

*  The  name  is  so  written  in  Montana,  though  its  correct  spelling  is  likely 
Chouteau,  that  is,  with  a  "u"  after  the  "o." 


ST.  PETER'S  MISSION  193 

to  the  straggling  peak  some  distance  off,  and  by  which  that 
towering  landmark  has  been  known  ever  since.  On  this  first 
site  three  cabins  were  erected  by  Father  Hoecken  and  Brother 
Magri.  The  two  missionaries  were  the  first  white  settlers  in 
that  part  of  the  country.  In  October  they  were  joined  by  Father 
C.  Imoda,  he  too  having  been  assigned  by  the  Superiors  to  the 
same  Mission.  The  Fathers  spent  the  winter  here,  learning 
the  language  and  teaching  the  rudiments  of  Christianity  to  a 
few  Indian  children. 

The  location,  however,  did  not  seem  to  be  very  desirable. 
Hence  another  had  to  be  found,  and  on  March  13,  i860,  on 
the  banks  of  Sun  River,  close  to  what  afterward  became  Fort 
Shaw,  a  couple  of  cabins  were  constructed.  But  soon  after, 
on  August  9,  a  suspension  of  building  was  ordered  by  the 
Superior,  Father  Congiato.  What  may  have  been  the  cause 
we  have  never  heard.  Father  Imoda  and  the  Brother  were 
directed  to  report  to  St.  Ignatius ;  while  Father  Hoecken  returned 
to  the  States. 

The  following  year,  1861,  Fathers  Giorda  and  C.  Imoda,, 
with  Brother  Francis  De  Kock,  were  assigned  to  the  Blackfoot 
Mission.  They  were  directed  to  proceed  to  Fort  Benton,  and 
pass  the  winter  there.  They  were  further  instructed  to  look 
up  a  suitable  location  for  a  permanent  Mission  for  the  Indians. 
Once  located  the  new  Mission  was  to  be  called  after  St.  Peter, 
the  Head  of  the  Apostolic  College,  the  name  having  been  chosen 
by  the  Superior,  Father  Congiato,  out  of  respect  for  the  Very 
Rev.  Peter  Beckx,  the  Father  General  of  the  Society  of  Jesus, 
who  had  approved  and  took  much  interest  in  the  work.  The 
new  missionary  band  arrived  at  Fort  Benton  on  the  25th  of 
October. 

The  following  spring,  1862,  Fathers  Giorda  and  Imoda,  with 
Brothers  F.  De  Kock  and  Lucian  D'Agostino,  the  last  men- 
tioned a  new  arrival,  scoured  the  country  in  search  of  a  suitable 
location.  They  found,  at  last,  a  desirable  site  along  the  banks 
of  the  Marias;  but  several  of  the  chiefs  strongly  objected  to1 
having  the  Mission  located  there,  and  insisted  with  Father 
Giorda  that  it  be  established  elsewhere.  As  the  Father  discovered 
before  long,  the  Indians  were  quite  diplomatic  about  the  matter. 
The   Marias   region  teemed   with   buffalo   which,   the   Indians 


194       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

feared,  would  be  all  exterminated  by  the  whites  who  were  sure 
to  follow  in  the  wake  of  the  Mission.  Hence  they  did  not 
want  it  located  in  that  section. 

Lest  they  should  become  alienated,  Father  Giorda  thought 
it  advisable  to  yield  to  their  wishes.  Accordingly,  he  and  Father 
Menetrey,  who  a  few  months  before  had  been  called  to  work 
in  this  new  field,  started  out  again  in  search  of  a  suitable  Mis- 
sion site.  Finally  they  struck  a  place  along  the  north  bank  of 
the  Missouri,  some  six  miles  above  the  mouth  of  Sun  River, 
which  seemed  to  answer  every  purpose.  There  the  new  Mission 
was  located  on  Febraury  14,  and  received  the  name  of  St.  Peter. 
Log  cabins  were  soon  constructed;  a  number  of  Indians  came 
around  and,  taking  up  places  to  their  liking,  pitched  their  tepees 
here  and  there  in  the  vicinity. 

It  was  here  that  Father  Giorda  came  near  losing  his  life  by 
drowning.  One  day  toward  evening  whilst  he  was  crossing  the 
Missouri  over  the  ice,  the  crust  gave  way.  He  spread  out  his 
arms  instinctively,  and  catching  hold  of  the  ice  beyond  the 
break,  kept  himself  from  going  under.  But  how  long  could  he 
withstand  the  strain  and  keep  from  being  drawn  down  and 
carried  off  by  the  current?  A  more  critical  situation  could 
hardly  be  imagined. 

Most  providentially,  Brothers  D'Agostino  and  De  Kock,  with 
an  Indian,  happened  to  be  within  hailing  distance.  They  heard 
the  Father's  cry  for  help  and  hastened  to  his  rescue;  but  found 
it  impossible  to  reach  him,  the  ice  breaking  under  their  feet 
as  they  attempted  to  go  toward  him.  Upon  this,  the  Indian, 
advancing  carefully  as  far  as  the  ice  would  carry  him,  threw 
round  the  Father  the  noose  of  a  long  lariat,  and  by  a  quick 
and  dexterous  twist  fastened  it.  This  done,  he  drew  him  out 
of  the  water  safely.  A  marvelous  feat,  which  amazed  the  two 
Brothers  who,  unable  to  lend  any  assistance,  stood  watching 
the  performance  in  silent  prayer  and  with  bated  breath. 

Realizing  that,  after  God,  he  owed  his  life  to  the  Blackfoot, 
Father  Giorda  there  and  then  made  a  vow  to  devote  the  rest  of 
his  days  to  the  salvation  of  the  tribe,  should  his  Superiors 
approve  of  his  doing  so.  From  what  we  are  told  of  him  by 
Father  Kuppens  the  Indian  was  a  pagan. 

Scarcely  a  couple  of  weeks  after  his  narrow  escape   from 


ST.  PETER'S  MISSION  195 

drowning,  the  same  Father  met  with  another  experience  no  less 
trying,  though  of  an  entirely  different  kind.  About  the  close 
of  the  same  month,  February,  1862,  he  set  out  with  his  inter- 
preter to  visit  the  Gros  Ventres,  and  fell  in  with  a  war  party 
belonging  to  the  camp  of  Bull  Lodge,  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the 
tribe.  Both  he  and  his  companion  were  made  prisoners,  but  the 
latter  managed,  somehow,  to  escape.  The  marauders  took  from 
the  missioner  his  mount  and  packhorse,  provisions  and  all;  and 
not  content  with  this,  they  stripped  him  of  the  clothes  on  his 
back,  to  his  very  undergarments.  Having  relieved  him  of  the 
cassock,  the  red  flannel  shirt  he  wore  caught  their  fancy,  and 
this,  too,  he  had  to  surrender  to  his  captors.  No  sooner  had 
one  of  the  band  gotten  it,  than  he  put  it  on  himself;  but  he 
was  considerate  enough  to  offer  his  own  habiliment,  a  vermin- 
infested  something  without  name,  in  exchange.  It  is  stated 
that  the  thermometer  at  the  Fort  marked  at  this  time  forty 
degrees  below  zero;  and  how,  under  such  conditions,  Father 
Giorda  did  not  perish  with  cold  is  truly  remarkable. 

He  managed,  however,  to  make  his  way  into  the  presence 
of  Bull  Lodge,  who  handed  him  a  buffalo  skin  for  a  covering. 
The  chief  could  hardly  believe  that  he  who  stood  naked  before 
him  and  half  frozen  was  a  Black  Robe.  Not  long  after,  horses, 
saddle,  and  some  personal  effects,  namely,  breviary,  cassock  and 
a  pair  of  blankets,  were  returned  to  the  missionary,  but  he  was 
not  permitted  to  remain  in  the  camp.  Father  Giorda  is  our 
authority  for  the  story  which  we  have  also  in  his  own  hand- 
writing before  us.* 

*  In  some  MS.  notes,  also  before  us,  but  not  in  Father  Giorda's  own  hand, 
we  find  it  stated  that  the  leader  of  the  war  party  who  so  ill-treated  the 
Missionary,  "died,  as  he  had  lived,  like  a  devil ;"  but  we  have  not  come  upon 
any  particulars  on  this  point. 

It  is  likewise  stated  in  the  same  notes  that  the  Father,  besides  being  made 
a  captive,  was  held  nearly  a  month  as  a  hostage  for  some  horses  which  the 
Gros  Ventres  believed  had  been  stolen  from  them  by  the  whites,  whereas 
they  had  been  taken  by  some  of  their  Indian  enemies,  a  war  party  of  Pend 
d'Oreilles.  Further,  that  whilst  in  the  hands  of  his  captors,  he  was  nearly 
eaten  up  by  vermin.  Lastly,  that  Father  Giorda  gave  the  Gros  Ventres  a  letter 
directed  to  the  officials  at  Fort  Benton,  wherein  he  pleaded  in  behalf  of  the 
Indians,  and  deprecated  any  harsh  measures  being  adopted  against  them, 
because  some  of  their  wild  young  men  had  mistreated  him.  All  this,  though 
not  alluded  to  by  Father  Giorda  in  the  account  written  by  himself,  is  most 


ig6       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

The  rest  of  the  Indians,  on  becoming  aware  of  the  ill-usage 
of  the  Black  Robe  at  the  hands  of  some  of  their  people,  sent 
apologies  to  the  Fort,  sincerely  regretting  the  occurrence.  They 
expressed  also  a  desire  to  be  visited  by  the  missionary.  Father 
Giorda  had  been  praying  for  some  such  favorable  turn,  and 
was  soon  again  on  his  way  to  the  Indians,  who  were  camped 
on  the  banks  of  the  Milk  River.  He  arrived  among  them  on 
the  ioth  of  April;  but  several  of  the  chiefs  and  influential  men 
of  the  tribe  appeared  anything  but  well  disposed,  and  would 
not  consent  that  any  of  their  children  should  be  baptized.  Soon, 
however,  a  change  for  the  better  became  noticeable.  Father 
Giorda  said  the  first  Mass  in  their  camp  on  April  13,  which 
was  Palm  Sunday,  and  on  the  same  day  baptized  134  children. 

It  is  made  clear  that,  whilst  St.  Peter's  Mission  on  the  banks 
of  the  Missouri  was  being  established  in  the  material  sense,  it 
already  was  reaping,  amidst  trials  and  crosses,  a  goodly  harvest 
of  souls. 

likely  the  truth,  with  the  exception  of  the  length  of  his  captivity.  It  would 
appear  that  he  could  hardly  have  been  in  the  hands  of  his  captors  more  than 
twelve  or  fourteen  days  at  the  most. 


Chapter  XXVI. 


NEW  LABORERS.      FATHER  F.  X.  KUPPENS  AND  OTHERS. 

IN  1864  two  new  missionaries  were  assigned  to  this  portion 
of  the  Lord's  vineyard,  Father  A.  Ravalli,  who  arrived  in 
the  month  of  August,  and  Father  Francis  X.  Kuppens,  who 
joined  that  small  band  of  zealous  workers  in  November.  We 
have  just  been  kindly  favored  by  the  latter  with  some  notes 
on  the  subject  now  before  us.  It  is  indeed  fortunate  that  we 
are  able  to  avail  ourselves  of  them  and  incorporate  them  where 


198       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

they  properly  belong  in  our  narrative.     They  make  interesting 
and  valuable  history. 

Father  Kuppens  accompanies  his  notes  with  three  small  maps 
or  diagrams  which  illustrate  the  subject  matter.  The  first  dia- 
gram gives  the  general  lay  of  the  country,  marking  out  at  the 
same  time  various  points  that  have  special  reference  to  the 
Mission. 

I  have  lived  at  the  Mission  [writes  Father  Kuppens]  from  No- 
vember, 1864,  to  its  close  in  the  spring  of  1866.  Three  of  the  first 
founders  lived  there  at  the  same  time,  and  the  Mission  was  located 
on  the  north  bank  of  the  Missouri,  about  six  miles  above  the  mouth 
of  Sun  River.  This  was  the  third  location  of  the  Mission  among 
the  Black  feet  Indians.  The  second  had  been  on  Sun  River  where 
Fort  Shaw  was  afterwards  built ;  and  the  first  on  the  Teton,  near 
Chouteau.  (That  is,  near  the  spot  where  now  stands  the  town  of 
that  name.  As  to  the  spelling  of  Choteau,  see  footnote  above,  Chap. 
XXV.) 

From  the  years  1862-63-64-65,  and  the  first  three  months  of  1866, 
St.  Peter's  Mission  was  the  only  Catholic  establishment  in  the  present 
Diocese  of  Great  Falls.  From  1864  to  the  close  of  the  Mission 
there  lived  at  St.  Peter's  three  resident  priests  and  two  lay  Brothers, 
who  had  care  of  all  the  Catholic  interests  of  the  whole  of  Montana 
lying  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  main  range  of  the  Rockies.  At 
times  a  fourth  Father  would  celebrate  the  holy  mysteries  there. 

As  to  his  arrival  at  the  Mission,  Father  Kuppens  speaks  of  it 
thus: 

I  recollect  well  the  evening  of  my  arrival  and  the  first  days  I 
spent  at  the  Mission.  The  reception  which  the  Indians  gave  me; 
the  view  of  the  Belt  Mountains ;  the  immense  plain ;  the  majestic 
Missouri  River,  which  nearly  encircled  our  place,  remain  vividly 
depicted  in  my  mind ;  and  in  the  evening,  I  recollect,  my  attention 
was  called  to  the  roar  of  the  waters  of  the  Missouri  at  the  Great 
Falls. 

Perhaps  a  short  description  of  the  Mission  houses  and  their 
immediate  surroundings  will  not  be  amiss.  Here  he  presents 
his  diagram  No.  2,  which  shows  clearly  the  Mission  site. 

When  the  location  of  the  Mission  had  been  determined  in  a  gen- 
eral way  [we  are  told  by  Father  Kuppens],  the  Fathers  pre-empted 
a  small  peninsula,  formed  by  a  prolonged  bend  in  the  river.  It 
contained  about  175  or  200  acres  of  land.     The  neck  was  no  more 


FATHER  F.  X.  KUPPENS  AND  OTHERS 


199 


than  a  fourth  of  a  mile  wide,  and  a  short  fence  at  this  place  would 
enclose  the  whole  property.  On  the  east,  a  wide  fringe  of  heavy 
cottonwood  trees  occupied  about  four  acres.     The  remaining,  about 


150  acres,  were  level,  good  loam,  sufficiently  high  to  be  safe  from 
spring  floods,  and  very  good  for  farming  or  for  pasture;  and  it 
seems  to  me  that  at  the  extreme  southern  end  of  the  peninsula  a 
small  creek  flowed  into  the  river. 

At  the  north,  just  outside  of  our  fence,  the  ground  rose  gently, 
at  first,  then  steeper  and  steeper,  until,  at  a  height  of  about  a  hundred 
feet,  it  terminated  in  a  heavy  layer  of  rock.  This  was  the  edge  of  a 
high  plateau.  To  the  west,  perhaps  half  a  mile  beyond  our  pre- 
empted claim,  a  dry  ravine  with  a  gentle  ascent,  offered  an  excellent 
wagon  road  to  the  top  of  the  plateau.  This  we  used  to  go  to  Fort 
Benton  or  to  Helena.  I  see  by  a  recent  map  that  the  town  of  Flood 
is  marked  a  trifle  to  the  northwest  of  our  property. 


200       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

A  small  X,  in  a  dry  coulee,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  west  of  our  fence, 
marks  the  spot  where  John  Fitzgerald,  our  herder,  was  killed,  April 
6,  1866.  Cross  (X)  No.  2,  on  the  incline  north  of  the  Mission, 
marks  his  grave.  R.  I.  P.  Cross  (X)  No.  3,  marks  the  grave  of  Mr. 
Johnston,  who  was  brought  to  the  Mission  sick,  and  after  a  few 
days  asked  for  baptism  and  died  a  Catholic.  His  grave  was  the 
first  on  the  hill.     R.  I.  P. 

Three  small  cabins  outside  of  our  place  toward  the  east  were 
occupied  as  follows :  in  the  one  nearest  to  the  Mission  lived  a  Flat- 
head Indian  with  his  old  spouse.  Both  were  good  Catholics ;  and 
their  children  were  married  and  lived  in  the  camp.  The  middle 
cabin  was  occupied  by  a  Black  foot  Indian,  with  his  two  wives  and 
six  children.  He  had  rescued  Father  Giorda  from  the  river,  and 
took  good  care  that  every  guest  at  the  Mission  should  be  acquainted 
with  all  the  details ;  he  never  forgot  them.  The  farthest  cabin 
toward  the  east  was  the  home  of  Mr.  Viel,  a  French  Canadian  mar- 
ried to  a  daughter  of  a  Black  foot  chief.  He  had  four  children  and 
all  practised  the  duties  of  religion.    They  were  a  happy  family. 

Cross  (X)  and  cross  (X)  5  in  the  river  mark  the  place  where 
Father  Giorda  broke  through  the  ice,  and  where  he  was  rescued. 
(The  spot  is  indicated  by  the  space  between  the  two  crosses.) 


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The  accompanying  map  [continues  Father  Kuppens]  may  perhaps 
give  a  faint  idea  of  the  buildings  of  St.  Peter's  Mission  on  the  banks 
of  the  Missouri.  The  first  glance  at  the  houses  should  convince  a 
person  that  the  inmates  were  not  cave-dwellers,  nor  should  they  be 
ranked  among  the  cliff-dwellers  either.     We  sometime  had  a  dis- 


FATHER  F.  X.  KUPPENS  AND  OTHERS  201 

cussion  as  to  the  style  of  architecture  that  had  been  adopted :  it  was 
neither  Greek  nor  Roman  nor  Byzantine  nor  Gothic ;  nor  either  an 
imitation  of  California  Mission.     It  was  Montana  pioneer  style. 

Rooms  Nos.  1  and  2,  and  Nos.  3  and  4,  had  been  erected  at  the 
first  beginning  of  the  Mission,  in  February,  1862.  Rooms  Nos.  5, 
6,  7,  were  built  during  November  and  December,  1864.  All  the 
buildings  are  well  matched ;  all  of  the  same  material,  green  cotton- 
wood  logs,  the  same  degree  of  finish ;  they  were  not  squared  and 
the  bark  had  not  been  removed.  The  walls  were  about  seven  and 
a  half  feet  high.  The  interstices  and  chinking  were  plastered  with 
clay.  The  roof  was  made  of  rails  laid  close  together,  overlaid  with 
a  heavy  layer  of  clay.  There  was  no  ceiling  to  any  of  the  rooms ; 
and  as  to  floor,  we  had,  when  the  buildings  were  new,  a  most  de- 
lightful velvet  carpet  of  very  dense  sod.  When  that  carpet  was 
worn  out,  as  the  very  best  will  do  in  time,  we  walked  on  a  clay  floor. 

There  was  a  porch,  about  five  feet  wide,  along  the  whole  length 
of  this  incipient  rectangle.  In  after  life,  I  have  often  wondered  that 
there  could  be  so  much  interior  peace  and  consolation  in  poor  sur- 
roundings. These  were  all  the  accommodations  at  St.  Peter's  in 
1864. 

But  I  must  not  forget  two  useful  adjuncts,  a  stockade  coral,  faced 
by  the  windows  of  room  No.  1  and  2,  for  the  ponies  of  our  guests. 
These  were  borrowed  sometimes  during  the  night,  to  the  great  annoy- 
ance of  ourselves  and  our  guests.  By  this  arrangement,  each  guest 
could  have  an  eye  to  his  pony  whenever  he  awoke.  Another  stockade 
coral  was  along  the  east  side  of  the  building,  for  our  cattle  and 
horses.    This  saved  a  great  amount  of  trouble. 

The  time  of  the  accident  to  Father  Giorda  was  at  the  very  begin- 
ning, whilst  they  were  preparing  the  foundations  and  laying  the  logs. 
At  my  arrival  at  the  Mission,  Father  Giorda  himself  whilst  showing 
me  the  points  of  interest  about  the  place,  pointed  out  to  me  where  he 
had  broken  through  the  ice  and  was  saved  from  the  waters.  He  also 
introduced  me  to  his  rescuer.  A  week  after  the  accident,  Father 
Giorda  set  out  for  the  Gros  Ventres  camp,  where  he  had  another 
adventure,  narrated  in  the  book  {Indian  and  White  in  the  Northwest). 

The  site  and  premises  described  and  illustrated  by  Father 
Kuppens  show  us  the  Mission  of  St.  Peter,  as  it  stood  on  the 
banks  of  the  Missouri.  But  it  did  not  remain  there  long,  hardly 
five  years,  since  in  the  spring  of  1866,  as  we  shall  see,  it  was 
removed  to  another  location,  the  one  it  occupies  today.  Never- 
theless, its  short  existence  by  the  Missouri  appears  to  have  been 
spiced  with  incident. 


202       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

As  Father  Kuppens  was  returning  one  day  from  a  missionary- 
excursion,  an  Indian  stopped  him  in  the  middle  of  the  road,  a 
few  miles  from  the  Mission.  Somehow,  the  Father's  mount  had 
caught  the  eye  of  the  redskin,  and  he  offered  to  swap  it  for  his 
own  broncho.  As  the  Father  would  not  consent  to  the  bargain, 
the  Indian  seized  the  horse  by  the  bridle,  as  if  determined  to 
take  it  by  force.  Upon  this,  Father  Kuppens  gave  the  fellow  a 
good  whack  across  the  face  with  his  whip,  and  off  he  galloped 
as  fast  as  the  horse  could  take  him.  In  the  twinkling  of  an  eye, 
the  Indian  had  recovered  from  his  surprise  and  with  bow  and 
arrow  shot  at  the  Father,  hitting  him  in  the  calf  of  the  right  leg, 
where  the  missile  stuck,  till  it  was  extracted  by  Father  Ravalli 
at  the  Mission. 

Father  Kuppens  makes  no  allusion  whatever  in  his  notes  to 
the  occurrence.  In  a  personal  letter  to  the  writer  he  makes  light 
of  the  whole  thing  and  laughs  it  off,  as  not  worth  mentioning. 

At  first  quite  a  number  of  Indians  collected  in  the  new  place. 
But  they  did  not,  nor  could  they  remain  any  length  of  time.  So 
far,  "the  buffalo,"  as  Father  Kuppens  tells  us,  "was  their  only 
support,  and  they  moved  their  camp  to  the  source  of  their  food 
supply." 

It  also  came  to  pass  that  unusual  dry  weather  prevailed  three 
years  in  succession  at  this  period ;  and  it  did  not  tend  to  impress 
the  Indians  favorably  with  the  locality.  Hence  they  left  "regret- 
fully," according  to  some;  "dissatisfied  and  in  disgust,"  accord- 
ing to  others. 

Father  Kuppens  takes  us  to  task  for  having  stated  in  the  first 
edition  that  the  dry  weather  had  destroyed  "the  crops  three 
years  in  succession."  "True,  the  Indians  and  the  Mission  had  no 
crops  for  three  successive  years,"  says  the  Father,  "but  they  had 
not  planted  anything" ;  for  they  had  neither  seed  to  plant,  nor 
any  means  to  plant  it  with.  Accordingly,  historical  accuracy 
would  have  us  say,  not  that  the  dry  weather  destroyed  the  crops, 
but  that  it  would  have  done  so  had  there  been  any  to  destroy. 
For,  according  to  Brother  L.  D'Agostino,  who  also  lived  there 
at  the  time,  hardly  any  green  grass  could  be  seen  thereabout 
during  the  prolonged  dry  spell. 

With  1862,  had  begun  what  may  be  called  the  gold-digging 
period  of  Montana,  deposits  of  the  precious  metal  being  dis- 


FATHER  F.  X.  KUPPENS  AND  OTHERS  203 

covered  at  Bannack,  Gold  Creek,  Alder  Gulch,  and  shortly  after 
at  Silver  City,  Last  Chance,  and  several  other  places.  This 
brought  many  whites  into  the  country  and  kept  them  also  in  a 
feverish  state  of  mind,  with  constant  expectation  of  new  diggings 
being  discovered.  Crowds  would  rush  or  stampede,  as  goes  the 
word,  in  this  or  that  direction,  at  the  first  rumor  of  gold  being 
struck.  However,  very  often  such  rumored  discoveries  proved 
ill-founded,  bringing  nothing  in  their  train  save  disappointment 
and  hardship. 

A  wild  stampede  of  the  kind  occurred  in  the  winter  of  1865, 
when  somebody  spread  the  news  of  a  big  find  in  the  Sun  River 
country.  It  was  during  a  blizzard  in  one  of  the  coldest  winters 
ever  experienced  in  Montana,  and  many  a  brave,  but  unfortunate 
miner  had  his  ears,  nose,  hands  or  feet  frozen.  A  number  found 
their  way  to  St.  Peter's  Mission,  whose  poor  and  scant  accom- 
modations were  thrown  open  to  them  by  the  Fathers.  Were  it 
not  for  this,  and  the  medical  skill  and  unsparing  devotedness  of 
Father  Ravalli,  several  would  have  surely  perished. 

"I  remember  the  Sun  River  stampede,"  writes  Father  Kuppens, 
"and  whilst  the  Sun  River  country  received  the  brunt  of  the 
inundation,  we  on  the  Missouri  received  an  overflow  far  above 
our  capacity  to  accommodate." 

But  the  discovery  of  gold  in  Montana  had  other  aspects  far 
more  serious  than  stampeding,  and  none  could  be  more  serious 
than  the  strife  which  it  brought  about  between  the  whites  and 
the  Indians,  and  which  promised  little  good  for  the  latter. 

The  natives  had  been  from  time  immemorial  the  sole  possessors 
of  all  these  regions,  and  naturally  enough  they  resented  seeing 
them  invaded  and  occupied  by  the  pale  faces.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  discovery  of  gold  was  bringing  in  the  whites  by  the 
thousands  from  every  quarter.  Nor  could  they  be  stopped  in 
their  rush  any  more  than  an  avalanche  can  be  stayed  by  means 
of  a  few  straws.  Yet,  the  Indians  imagined  that  they  could  hold 
back  the  white  man  by  force.  Hence  the  state  of  guerilla  war- 
fare that  prevailed,  especially  in  the  northern  parts  of  Montana, 
at  this  time  of  our  history. 

Detached  bands  or  war  parties  of  Blackfeet  would  fall  on 
groups  of  miners,  prospectors,  teamsters  or  travelers,  and 
mercilessly  rob  and  murder  every  one  of  them.     The  whites 


204       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

retaliated.  Hence  it  came  to  pass  that  innocent  persons  were 
often  made  to  suffer  for  some  one  else's  misdoings ;  and  many  a 
harmless  white  man,  and  many  a  peaceful  native  perished  during 
this  lawless  and  bloody  strife. 

A  reprisal  of  the  kind  occurred  along  the  Marias  about  this 
time,  when  four  peaceful  Indians  were  murdered  by  whites. 
As  a  sequel  and  in  revenge,  some  whites  were  killed  by  Indians 
shortly  after.  Matters  grew  rapidly  worse,  and  from  1865  to 
1869,  the  Blackfeet  appeared  to  become  desperate,  and  bent  on 
exterminating  every  white  man  found  in  the  country.  The 
highway  to  Fort  Benton,  particularly,  became  so  infested  with 
marauding  bands  of  Indians  that  the  life  of  no  white  man 
traveling  over  that  road  was  secure.  It  is  asserted  that  in  the 
summer  of  1869  fifty-six  white  people  were  killed,  either  from 
ambush  or  in  the  open,  along  that  road,  by  Indian  war  parties. 

These  disturbed  conditions  are  referred  to  as  follows  by 
Father  Kuppens : 

The  summer  of  1866  was  full  of  excitement  and  rumors  of  Indian 
wars,  and  many  lives  of  both  whites  and  Indians  were  sacrificed,  and 
the  Mullan  Road  from  Fort  Benton  became  very  unsafe.  To  protect 
this  thoroughfare  to  the  gold  fields  in  Montana,  Fort  Shaw  was 
established,  late  in  the  summer  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
second  location  of  the  Mission  (on  Sun  River.)* 

The  murder  of  Malcom  Clark,  at  the  mouth  of  Prickly  Pear 
Canyon,  twenty-five  miles  from  Helena,  brought  things  to  a 
climax.  It  led  to  what  has  been  called  the  Piegan  war  of  1869- 
70,  when  Col.  Baker  and  his  command  slaughtered  two  hundred 
and  thirty-three  Indians,  fifty  of  whom  were  women  and 
children. 

And  now,  for  the  history  of  St.  Peter's.  We  must  retrace  our 
steps,  and  return  to  the  year  1865-66.  In  the  fore  part  of  that 
winter  Father  Kuppens  went  to  visit  the  Indians,  who  were  then 
camped  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Missouri,  some  thirty  miles 

*  Misled  by  the  fact  that  the  Military  Department  had  made  overtures 
for  the  Mission  premises  near  the  Missouri,  and  that  U.  S.  soldiers  did 
actually  occupy  those  premises  for  a  few  months,  the  writer  was  led  into 
error  in  his  first  edition,  and  identified  with  that  place  the  site  of  Fort 
Shaw,  whereas  the  Fort,  as  we  are  reminded  by  Father  Kuppens,  was  built 
in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  second  location  of  the  Mission  near  the 
Sun  River. 


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FATHER  F.  X.  KUPPENS  AND  OTHERS  205 

below  Fort  Benton.  During  his  visit  he  found  that  they  were 
bent  on  mischief  against  all  white  people  in  general,  and  even 
against  the  Mission  and  the  Fathers.  A  number  of  the  Indians 
were  clearly  under  the  false  impression  that  every  white  man 
was  an  enemy.  They  had,  therefore,  resolved  to  treat  as  such 
even  the  Black  Robes. 

All  this  was  communicated  to  Father  Kuppens  by  a  personal 
friend  of  his  in  the  tribe.  So  far  the  missionaries  had  not  had 
the  slightest  sign  of  any  feeling  against  them  on  the  part  of  the 
Indians.  The  information  came  as  a  surprise  to  the  Father ;  and 
the  more  so  as  he  could  not  doubt  the  veracity  of  his  informant. 
He  left  the  camp  rather  sadly,  and  as  he  was  retracing  his  course 
toward  the  Mission  he  met  with  a  very  trying  visitation,  becoming 
snow-blind  and  totally  helpless.  Most  providentially,  there 
happened  to  come  his  way  a  kind-hearted  miner,  by  name  John 
Dougherty,  who  took  care  of  him  and  led  him  safe  to  Old 
Agency,  some  eighteen  miles  from  the  Mission.  Here,  with  rest 
and  proper  care,  he  gradually  regained  his  sight,  and  had  also 
for  some  time  the  company  of  a  confrere,  Brother  L.  D'Agostino, 
sent  to  his  relief  from  the  Mission. 

There  were  several  Indian  lodges  camped  about  Old  Agency 
at  the  time,  and  when  the  Father  began  to  see  and  move  around, 
he  went  to  visit  and  instruct  them.  He  noticed,  however,  as  did 
others,  that  the  Indians  had  suddenly  become  strangely  reticent 
and  sulky.  He  wondered  what  the  cause  might  be,  and  having 
inquired,  they  told  him  that  four  of  their  people  had  been  hanged 
by  the  whites  near  Sun  River  Crossing,  and  that  the  bodies  had 
been  thrown  into  the  river,  through  a  hole  cut  in  the  ice.  And 
there  was  only  too  much  truth  to  the  ghastly  tale. 

Near  the  locality  mentioned  by  the  Indians  there  lived  one 
John  B.  Morgan,  a  squaw  man,  married  to  a  Piegan  woman. 
Some  few  days  before,  a  party  of  Indians  of  the  same  tribe, 
numbering  at  least  four,  had  come  to  his  house  and  were  his 
guests.  He  treated  them  well,  making  them  feel  quite  at  home, 
and  having  been  assured  that  they  were  perfectly  safe  with  him, 
they  put  aside  their  guns.  Shortly  after,  there  also  arrived  at 
his  place  a  party  of  whites,  led  by  one  Charlie  Carson.  They 
were  a  squad  of  the  volunteers  who  under  the  proclamation  of 
the  Acting  Governor,  General  Thomas  Francis  Meagher,  had 


206       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

been  enlisted  with  the  object  of  sending  them  against  the  Black- 
feet  Indians.  But  they  were  soon  after  disbanded,  their  organi- 
zation having  been  disapproved  by  the  Government  at 
Washington,  D.  C. 

Did  Morgan  send  for  his  new  visitors?  Did  he  bring  them 
to  his  home?  We  cannot  say.  But  certain  it  is  that  he  could 
not  have  behaved  more  treacherously  than  if  he  had  been  in 
entire  collusion  with  them.  As  he  afterward  boasted  of  doing, 
he  gave  his  Indian  guests  over  to  the  Carson  crowd,  telling  them : 
"Now,  boys,  right  here  is  a  chance  for  you:  some  of  the  redskins 
you  are  after  are  in  this  house." 

The  doomed  Indians  were  in  an  adjoining  room  eating  what 
Morgan  had  set  before  them.  Suddenly  attacked,  they  were 
quickly  overpowered,  and  dragged  out  and  hanged  to  a  couple 
of  trees  near  the  premises.  The  bodies,  still  warm,  were  cast 
into  the  river,  through  an  opening  hastily  cut  in  the  ice.  The 
tragic  ending  of  these  poor  fellows  was  witnessed  by  two  of 
their  companions,  who  had  remained  hiding  in  the  underbrush 
close  by.  Either  they  distrusted  Morgan,  or  some  other  reason 
not  known  led  to  their  hiding.  They  now  stole  away  unper- 
ceived,  and  hastened  to  bring  the  news  to  their  fellow  Indians, 
camped  near  Old  Agency.  No  wonder  that  these  had  become 
unusually  sullen. 

Nor  were  they  slow  in  giving  vent  to  their  desire  for  revenge. 
They  attacked  the  New  Agency,  a  few  miles  from  Morgan's, 
where  they  killed  one  of  the  men;  whilst  another  owed  his  escape 
merely  to  the  accidental  explosion  of  some  powder  in  the  build- 
ing, which  frightened  off  the  assailants.  Simultaneously, 
another  band  fell  upon  a  stopping  place  on  the  Dearborn.  Here, 
too,  they  killed  a  white  man,  whom  they  caught  outside ;  and  but 
for  the  rest  having  fortified  themselves  within  the  premises,  all 
would  have  fallen  victims  to  Indian  vengeance. 

Notwithstanding  his  being  married  to  an  Indian  woman  of  the 
same  tribe,  Morgan  had  good  ground  to  fear  for  himself  and 
his  family.  Hence,  he  hastened  to  the  Mission,  and  sought  to 
obtain  there  shelter  for  them,  on  the  plea  of  the  general  inse- 
curity of  the  country  about,  and  because  he  had  to  go  to  Helena 
on  most  urgent  business.  The  man  was  soon  suspected  by  the 
Indians  and  believed  to  have  had  some  part  in  the  hanging  of 


FATHER  F.  X.  KUPPENS  AND  OTHERS  207 

their  people  at  his  place.  Hence  his  mere  going  to  seek  protec- 
tion for  his  family  at  the  Mission  was  apt  to  bring  odium  on  the 
Fathers.  We  have  seen  above  that  distrust  of  the  missionaries 
had  already  crept  into  the  mind  of  some  of  them,  and  the  tragedy 
at  Morgan's  could  not  but  add  to  it. 

This  became  more  apparent  day  by  day.  Acts  of  hostility, 
such  as  wantonly  shooting  down  the  Mission  stock,  several  head 
being  killed  or  maimed,  plainly  showed  the  temper  of  the  savages. 
But  worse:  about  Easter,  John  Fitzgerald,  whom  the  Fathers 
employed  as  herder,  was  shot  dead,  hardly  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
from  their  premises.  There  was  no  telling  what  the  next  day 
might  bring  on. 

Father  Giorda,  the  general  Superior,  was  at  this  time  at  Alder 
Gulch  or  Virginia  City,  whither  he  had  gone  to  give  the  many 
Catholics  in  that  large  mining  camp  the  opportunity  to  make 
their  Easter  duties.  A  messenger  was  dispatched  to  him;  and 
without  a  moment's  delay  he  set  out  for  St.  Peter's  Mission. 
On  reaching  the  place,  he  viewed  the  situation  with  no  little  con- 
cern, and  tender-hearted  as  he  was,  broke  into  tears. 

We  shall  see  directly  that  a  new  site  for  the  Mission  had  been 
selected  a  year  before,  and  that  preparation  for  the  removal  to 
the  new  place  had  been  going  on  for  several  months.  Hence, 
"Father  Giorda  felt  considerably  relieved,"  writes  Father 
Kuppens,  "when  we  told  him  that  things  in  the  new  place  were 
practically  ready." 

But  of  this  in  the  next  chapter. 


Chapter  XXVII. 

THE  NEW  LOCATION — TEMPORARY  CLOSING  OF  THE  MISSION. 

IN  the  beginning  of  June,  1865,"  we  quote  from  Father  Kup- 
pens'  notes,  "Father  Giorda,  who  was  at  the  time  the  Superior 
general  of  the  Northwestern  Missions,  made  his  yearly  visit  to 
St.  Peter's,  at  the  end  of  which  he  invited  Father  Imoda  and 
your  humble  servant  to  accompany  him  in  search  of  a  more 
suitable  site.  Under  the  guidance  of  our  Blackfoot  Indian,  and 
Mr.  Viel,  a  French  Canadian,  we  took  our  course  along  the 
Missouri  westward  to  the  foothills,  and  examined  the  various 
valleys  and  little  streams.  We  passed  Bird  Tail  Rock,  then  up 
the  Dearborn  River,  to  its  very  source ;  then  down  from  the  head- 
waters of  Sun  River  to  its  junction  with  the  Missouri. 

"A  careful  comparison  of  notes  on  the  favorable  points  of  the 
different  sites  resulted  in  the  unanimous  opinion  that  the  place 
about  two  miles  east  of  Bird  Tail  Rock,  was  the  most  suitable 
for  durable  mission  work  and  school. 

"Father  Imoda  received  instructions  to  prepare  the  buildings, 
and  fence  in  a  field  and  garden,  for  the  transfer  of  the  Mission 
to  this  place,  which  Father  Giorda  hoped  to  effect  the  next  year." 

"When  the  fourth  location  of  the  Mission  had  been  chosen," 
continues  Father  Kuppens,  "the  place  was  designated  as  two 
miles  east  of  Bird  Tail  Rock."  He  then  tells  us  that,  later  on, 
the  Mission  was  marked  on  the  map,  St.  Peter,  and  Bird  Tail 
appeared  a  little  west  of  it.  And  now  he  describes  Bird  Tail  as 
a  peculiar  landmark  near  the  Mullan  Road,  about  midway 
between  the  Dearborn  and  Sun  River.  "It  is  a  high,  isolated  and 
very  steep  hill,  and  the  many  fragments  of  rock,  all  about  its 
sides,  give  it  a  formidable  aspect.  The  top  appears  to  be  one 
solid  mass  of  stone  and  at  its  very  highest  point  there  jut  out 
bold  against  the  sky,  some  seven  monoliths  of  colossal  size.  The 
Indians  in  designating  the  hill  would  raise  their  open  hand  above 
their  head,  and  extend  the  fingers.  Very  little  effort  of  the 
imagination  was  required  to  find  that  the  name  Bird  Tail  was 


TEMPORARY  CLOSING  OF  ST.  PETER'S  209 

very  appropriate.  The  first  white  settlers  had  for  it  no  other 
name,  and  always  designated  it  as  Bird  Tail,  Bird  Tail  Rock, 
Bird  Tail  Hill.  I  have  lived  two  years  almost  in  sight  of  the 
place,"  adds  Father  Knppens,  "and  I  have  never  heard  the  name 
called  in  question." 

Since  a  new  Mission  site  had  been  resolved  upon,  it  is  evident 
that  the  one  by  the  Missouri  had  not  been  found  quite  satisfac- 
tory. Why  so,  apart  from  the  reasons  indicated  above  in  the 
narrative,  the  writer  is  unable  to  tell.  Those  reasons,  however, 
were  such  as  could  have  applied  pretty  much  to  any  other  loca- 
tion in  that  whole  country.  Hence  it  is  but  fair  to  surmise  that, 
whilst  there  must  have  been  special  reasons  rendering  a  change 
of  location  desirable,  these  did  not  become  so  well  known. 

In  compliance  with  the  directions  Father  Imoda  established  a 
camp  at  the  new  place,  and  a  Brother  or  Father,  with  some  work- 
men and  a  few  Indians,  prepared  logs,  stone  and  all  the  necessary 
material.  "We  had  plans,"  says  Father  Kuppens,  "that  included 
all  the  different  departments  for  chapel  and  community  life;  for 
school  and  industrial  training.  Lumber  was  hauled  from  Helena 
and  civilization  was  advancing." 

"The  earliest  visitor  that  I  can  remember,"  says  the  Father, 
"was  General  Thomas  Francis  Meagher,  who  strayed  from  the 
Mullan  road  in  a  blizzard,  and  landed  in  our  camp,  attracted  by 
the  barking  of  the  dogs.  Several  Indian  chiefs  visited  us,  highly 
pleased  with  the  new  location,  and  promised  to  send  their 
children  to  school.  During  the  winter,  the  work  had  never  been 
interrupted,  and  the  houses  were  practically  ready  in  the  spring." 
This  was  what  relieved  Father  Giorda  on  his  arrival  from  Vir- 
ginia; for  he  was  thus  able  to  order  at  once  the  transfer  to  the 
new  place.  "He  told  us  in  the  evening,"  says  Father  Kuppens, 
"that  we  would  move  in  the  morning  with  all  our  belongings. 
We  had  a  short  but  impressive  exhortation  in  the  chapel ;  and  in 
the  morning  bade  good  bye  to  St.  Peter's,  on  the  Missouri. 
Father  Giorda,  as  a  last  act,  visited  the  place  of  his  rescue  from 
the  waters ;  and  thus  this  third  location  was  abandoned." 

"During  our  short  journey  to  the  new  place,"  adds  Father 
Kuppens,  "we  saw  several  parties  of  Indians  and  whites  on  the 
war  path,  and  it  was  evident  that  whiskey  had  set  their  brains 
afire.     We  occupied  the  Mission  houses  only  one  night.     The 


210        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

four  Fathers  said  Mass  in  a  new  chapel  and  on  a  new  altar;  and 
all  felt  confident  that  the  new  Mission,  on  its  fourth  and  last 
location,  had  found  a  permanent  home.  That  very  day  we  all 
received  orders  to  close  the  Mission  temporarily,  and  retire  to 
St.  Ignatius,  across  the  mountains.  On  April  27,  1866,  we 
abandoned  St.  Peter's  Mission,  on  the  Missouri ;  on  the  same  day 
we  opened  the  Mission  at  Bird  Tail  Rock.  The  next  day  we 
closed  this  Mission  temporarily." 

Father  Kuppens'  notes  make  quite  clear  this  part  of  the 
history  of  St.  Peter's  Mission  from  its  establishment  by  the  bank 
of  the  Missouri,  to  its  removal  to  its  fourth  site  near  Bird  Tail 
Rock,  where  it  was  opened  one  day,  to  be  closed  again  the  next. 
It  is  not  unlikely  that  this  last  step  was  resolved  upon  on  reach- 
ing the  new  place  if  not  on  the  way  thither,  and  that  the  imme- 
diate cause  were  the  war  parties  met  by  the  missioners  whilst 
moving  to  the  new  home.  Thomas  Moran,  who  was  on  the  spot 
at  the  time,  told  the  writer  as  much.  He  added,  further,  that 
soon  after  their  arrival,  the  Fathers  held  a  consultation,  and 
resolved  unanimously  on  closing  the  Mission  for  the  time  being. 
It  was  not  safe  for  any  of  them  to  remain  at  his  post.  Hence 
the  order  of  Father  Giorda  sending  the  members  of  the  little 
community,  some  to  St.  Ignatius,  some  to  Hell's  Gate,  whither 
also  was  to  be  transferred  the  stock  and  whatever  else  could  be 
moved. 

The  hardships  and  strenuous  duties  of  his  position,  especially 
in  connection  with  the  occurrences  described  above,  told  heavily 
on  Father  Giorda,  and  impaired  his  physical  strength.  This  led 
higher  Superiors  to  grant  him  some  relief  by  appointing  Father 
U.  Grassi  to  fill  his  place  in  the  capacity  of  Vice  Superior.  The 
appointment  was  made  in  the  summer  of  the  same  year,  1866. 
As  will  be  related  more  in  detail  in  the  second  part  of  this  work, 
yielding  to  the  persistent  requests  of  the  many  Catholics  in  the 
two  mining  districts  of  Alder  Gulch  and  Last  Chance,  Father 
U.  Grassi  gave  resident  priests  to  those  two  places  in  the  fall  of 
that  year.  In  other  words,  he  opened  a  Mission  in  each  of  the 
two  communities  of  whites,  Virginia  City  and  Helena.  The 
move  was  a  necessary  one.  But  on  the  other  hand,  therefrom 
arose  a  new  problem  whose  practical  solution  presented  many 
serious  difficulties,  especially  because  of  the  scarcity  of  laborers 


TEMPORARY  CLOSING  OF  ST.  PETER'S  211 

in  the  field.  How  could  both  the  Indians  and  the  whites  be 
attended  to,  when  there  were  not  men  enough  to  care  for  either 
one  or  the  other? 

To  encompass  both  ends,  if  no  more  than  in  part,  St.  Peter's 
Mission  was  now  attached  to  the  Mission  of  Helena,  whence  the 
Blackfeet  Indians  were  to  be  occasionally  visited  by  Father  C. 
Imoda,  who  was  specially  charged  with  the  task.  This,  however, 
was  a  temporary  arrangement  only.  For  the  next  few  years  the 
Mission  had  no  resident  priest.  One  or  another  of  the  Fathers 
residing-  in  Helena  visited  it  now  and  then.  Father  Imoda  never 
failed  to  do  so,  when  on  his  way  to  the  Indians  or  when  he 
returned  from  their  camps.  He  would  stop  there,  to  see  that 
things  were  kept  in  order,  and  also  to  comply  with  the  require- 
ments of  the  law,  so  as  not  to  forfeit  the  title  to  the  claim. 

Whilst  the  reopening  of  the  place  was  wished  for  somehow, 
the  hope  of  its  realization  diminished  as  time  went  on.  Nay, 
an  interval  now  followed,  when  all  thought  of  its  restoration 
seemed  to  be  given  up,  as  is  made  clear  by  the  fact  that  Father 
Menetrey  received  orders  to  close  the  Mission's  affairs.  He  went 
to  St.  Peter's  on  this  special  business  in  the  fall  of  1867,  and 
remained  there  till  the  following  summer,  and,  during  that  time, 
disposed  of  whatever  belonged  to  the  Mission. 

He  had  just  completed  the  task  assigned  to  him,  when  from 
headquarters  arrived  positive  orders  for  the  continuance  of  the 
Mission.  The  consequence  of  this  was,  that  all  former  dispo- 
sitions not  in  keeping  therewith  were  reversed.  As  the  first  step 
toward  the  re-establishment  of  St.  Peter's,  Father  G.  Gazzoli  was 
sent  over  there  in  the  fall  of  1868.  His  object  was  to  look  into 
matters  and  report  on  the  expediency  of  re-opening  the  place.  He 
stayed  till  the  following  summer,  and  having  reported  adversely, 
things  continued  in  statu  quo,  a  while  longer. 

During  the  whole  interval  from  the  closing  of  the  Mission  in 
1866,  to  its  re-opening  in  1874,  the  premises  and  whatever  else 
had  not  been  disposed  of  by  the  Fathers,  remained  confided  to 
the  care  of  Thomas  Moran,  whose  loyal  and  faithful  stewardship 
proved  deserving  of  all  praise. 

Father  Imoda  visited  the  Indians  from  Helena  once  a  year, 
spending  among  them  several  months. 

Journeying,  however,  through  the  Indian  country  was  often 


212        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

beset  by  uncommon  trials  and  the  greatest  hardships,  as  may  be 
seen  from  the  following.  Thieving  bands  of  redskins  made  away 
with  the  missioners'  mounts  and  provisions  three  different  times 
during  one  trip!  Left  thus  on  foot  and  without  anything  to  eat, 
how  they  escaped  being  starved  to  death  in  those  wild  and  deso- 
late prairies  seems  marvelous. 

But,  indeed,  there  was  no  telling  what  vexations  might  over- 
take the  missioner  in  his  apostolic  journeyings.  In  the  earlier 
days  of  the  Missions,  some  of  the  Fathers,  for  want  of  other 
material,  wore  unmentionables  made  of  buckskin,  and  not 
unfrequently  found  it  difficult  to  guard  their  tempting  wardrobe 
from  Indian  dogs,  prairie  wolves,  and  other  animals.  Whilst 
returning  from  a  missionary  excursion,  Father  Menetrey  woke 
up  one  morning  to  find  himself  in  the  strangest  predicament.  His 
trousers  had  been  spirited  away  during  the  night,  nothing  of  his 
apparel  being  left  but  two  buttons  and  a  buckle.  And  these  told 
their  own  story.  Either  the  Father's  mount,  this  time  a  govern- 
ment mule  that  had  fared  poorly  during  the  day,  or  some  coyote, 
just  as  clever  and  no  less  hungry,  had  quietly  nibbled  from  under 
the  tent  and  made  a  meal  of  the  garment.  This  left  Father 
Menetrey  a  sans-calottes,  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  term. 

Somehow,  Father  Menetrey's  journeyings  over  this  particular 
section  appear  to  have  been  spiced  above  the  common  with 
adventure.  As  he  returned  to  the  Mission  on  one  occasion,  he 
was  overtaken  by  a  blinding  snow  storm  somewhere  in  the  vicinity 
of  Square  Butte,  and  traveled  part  of  the  day  and  the  whole  of 
the  following  night  without  advancing  one  single  step  toward 
his  objective.  He  had  been  following  his  own  tracks  in  a  circle, 
and  did  not  become  aware  of  it  till  the  next  morning,  when  at 
the  dawn  of  day  the  storm  had  partly  subsided.  He  then  dis- 
covered that  he  had  lost  his  bearings  and  made  no  headway  at  all 
toward  the  Mission. 

On  another  occasion  he  was  summoned  to  marry  a  couple  at 
Sun  River.  On  arriving  at  the  place,  he  tied  his  horse  to  a  post 
near  the  premises,  to  have  the  mount  ready  for  his  return.  After 
the  ceremony,  and  when  about  to  sit  down  to  breakfast  with  his 
hosts  and  the  newly  married  couple,  somebody  noticed  that  the 
Father's  mount  had  worked  itself  loose,  and  as  the  man  was 
going  to  tether  it:     "Never  mind,  I  will  go  myself,"  said  the 


TEMPORARY  CLOSING  OF  ST.  PETER'S  213 

Father  to  the  man,  "you  may  not  be  able  to  catch  the  rogue:  I 
will  be  back  directly." 

Father  Menetrey  knew  to  perfection  all  the  good  points  of  a 
horse.  He  knew  well  also  the  tricky  ways  of  his  mount,  a  black, 
of  mixed  pedigree  and  of  spirits  quite  independent.  Once  freed 
of  the  rider,  the  animal  did  not  care  to  have  him  soon  again  on 
its  back,  and  to  dodge  being  pressed  into  service,  the  horse  was 
certainly  clever.  On  hearing  its  master  approach,  the  beast 
trotted  off  a  short  distance  ahead,  and  then  stopped  to  nibble  at 
the  tempting  bunchgrass.  On  Father  Menetrey  approaching 
again,  off  again  went  the  rascal.  The  same  performance  was 
repeated  the  whole  way  to  the  Mission,  a  distance  of  some  twenty 
miles.  Needless  to  add,  by  the  time  of  his  arrival,  Father 
Menetrey  was  considerably  jaded  by  the  long  walk,  and  still  more 
by  the  longer  fast,  as  he  had  not  had  a  morsel  to  eat  from  the 
evening  before. 

Since  the  Chapel  Car  is  become  a  reality  in  apostolic  work 
nowadays  we  confess — and  hope  the  allusion  will  be  pardoned — 
that  we  have  not  been  able  to  refrain  from  contrasting  occasion- 
ally in  our  mind  its  decided  superiority  over  the  old  Indian 
missionary  way  of  going  about  to  preach  the  Gospel.  But  both 
ways  of  locomotion  are  from  the  Lord.  And  may  He  bless  each 
and  all,  those  who  need  the  chapel  car  to  get  to  Heaven,  and 
those  who  strive  to  get  there  afoot,  or  on  the  back  of  a  cayuse. 
None,  after  all,  arrive,  but  they  are  carried  thither  by  God  Him- 
self and  His  infinite  mercv. 


Chapter  XXVIII. 

FATHER    PHILIP    RAPPAGLIOSI    AND    OTHERS. 

IN  the  spring  of  1874,  St.  Peter's  Mission  was  re-opened,  and 
naturally  enough,  the  charge  fell  to  Father  C.  Imoda.  He  had 
been  most  devoted  to  it,  and  had  never  ceased  advocating  its 
re-opening  with  higher  Superiors. 

At  first  he  had  as  companions  only  two  lay-Brothers,  F.  De 
Kock,  and  L.  D'Agostino,  both  of  them  veterans,  who  had  been 
attached  to  the  Mission  from  its  very  start  in  the  early  sixties. 
In  July  he  welcomed  a  zealous  assistant  in  Father  Philip  Rap- 
pagliosi,  and  somewhat  later  Father  J.  Guidi,  who  came  to  labor 
in  the  same  field. 

The  mention  of  Father  Rappagliosi  recalls  a  very  peculiar  inci- 
dent, of  a  semi-serious  nature,  which  occurred  when  the  Father, 
who  had  just  arrived  from  Europe,  was  passing  through  Helena 
on  his  way  to  one  of  the  Indian  Missions  in  Northern  Montana. 
The  story  may  as  well  be  told  as  a  relief  from  the  dullness  of 
these  pages,  and  the  writer,  who  had  more  than  an  agreeable 
share  in  the  adventure,  can  vouch  for  the  accuracy  of  every 
detail. 

It  was  the  first  week  in  January,  and  Father  Rappagliosi  had 
to  leave  early  in  the  morning  for  the  coach  to  the  west  side,  and 
wished  before  leaving  to  say  good-bye  to  the  writer,  who  had 
spent  the  night  at  St.  John's  Hospital,  a  few  steps  across  from 
the  Rectory,  taking  care  of  a  patient.  This  was  a  person  of 
distinction,  who  had  been  brought  to  the  institution  the  evening 
before  at  the  writer's  own  suggestion,  to  recover  from  a  little 
too  much  conviviality.  The  difficulty  was  how  to  keep  him  in 
the  place  long  enough.  He  was  given  the  best  room  in  the  build- 
ing, on  the  first  floor  and  to  the  right  of  the  front  entrance.  The 
case  required  some  precautions,  which  were  decided  upon  in  a 
family  council,  as  soon  as  the  patient  had  been  put  to  bed.  His 
suit  of  clothes  and  shoes  were  placed  beyond  his  reach.  More- 
over, the  writer  volunteered  to  sit  up  and  care  for  his  friend, 


FATHER  PHILIP  RAPPAGLIOSI  AND  OTHERS  215 

and  suggested  the  extra  precaution  of  having  the  room  locked 
from  the  outside,  so  that  the  patient  willy-nilly  would  have  to 
resign  himself  to  his  temporary  confinement. 

So  far,  so  good.  Still  the  best-laid  plans  occasionally  do 
miscarry.  Late  in  the  night  the  patient  became  remarkably  con- 
siderate and  affable.  More  than  once  he  expressed  his  regret 
that  the  Father  should  lose  his  rest  on  his  account,  and  pleaded 
with  him  to  lie  down  on  the  lounge  which  had  been  placed  by 
the  Sisters  for  his  convenience  in  the  room,  and  lay  at  the  foot 
of  the  bed  and  beneath  the  window  that  opened  on  the  front 
porch.  The  Father  promised  that  he  would  do  so,  but  only  when 
the  patient   himself  was  asleep  and  resting  comfortably. 

Up  to  this  our  friend  had  been  sitting  on  the  bed.  He  now 
stretched  himself  under  the  covering,  and  hardly  half  an  hour 
after  he  was  snoring.  Approaching  him  quietly  to  investigate 
conditions,  the  inexperienced  orderly  felt  convinced  that  all  was 
well.  Thereupon  removing  his  shoes,  and  with  a  blanket  around 
him,  he  lay  down  on  the  lounge  and  soon  fell  into  a  sound  sleep, 
the  rest  of  the  weary. 

About  daybreak  he  was  aroused  by  a  knock  at  the  door,  and 
answered  with  a  sleepy  "Come  in."  It  was  good  Sister  Bertha 
bringing  Father  Rappagliosi  to  say  good-bye.  She  unlocked  the 
door,  and  as  this  was  swinging  open,  the  Sister  noticed  instantly 
what  the  green  nurse  had  not  yet  any  knowledge  of ;  and  with  a 
peculiar  emphasis  of  voice,  "Father,"  she  asked,  "where  is  your 
patient?"  "There!"  was  the  reply,  the  utterance  being  accom- 
panied by  a  movement  of  the  hand  pointing  to  the  patient's  bed. 

But  the  patient  was  not  in  the  bed,  nor  under  it,  or  anywhere 
within  sight ;  he  had  simply  vanished.  What  a  strange  situation, 
extremely  puzzling  and  tantalizing,  and  supremely  ridiculous! 
Father  Rappagliosi  enjoyed  our  chagrin,  and  laughing  heartily 
hastily  shook  hands  with  the  writer  and  hurried  away  to  catch 
the  coach. 

Anxious  to  learn  something  about  our  runaway  charge,  we 
now  approached  the  empty  couch  and  partly  turned  up  the  cover- 
ing, to  see  from  the  warmth  of  the  blankets,  about  how  long  it 
had  been  vacated.  This  move  only  added  to  our  predicament. 
For  it  was  soon  reported  that  we  had  turned  over  the  bedding 
and  shaken  the  blankets  in  a  vain  effort  to  find  our  patient. 


216       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

The  room  was  about  fourteen  feet  by  twelve  in  size,  and  had 
two  windows,  one  of  which  opened  on  the  front  porch,  and  was 
no  more  than  three  feet  above  the  floor.  Both  windows  were 
closed,  and,  as  already  mentioned,  the  door  of  the  room  had 
been  locked  from  the  outside  and  remained  locked  through  the 
night.  Nevertheless  the  patient  was  gone.  At  least  that  much 
was  certain.  But  how  ?  Where  was  he  ?  What  had  become  of 
him?  The  writer  knew  not,  nor  any  one  else  in  the  building. 
But  had  one  been  on  Catholic  Hill  between  two  and  three  o'clock 
that  cold  January  morning,  he  might  have  met  and  been  startled 
by  the  unwonted  sight  of  a  red-flanneled  figure  walking  through 
the  snow,  and  making  for  a  home  three  blocks  away,  where  the 
inmates  were  nearly  frightened  out  of  their  wits  by  the  appari- 
tion. 

The  church  and  the  hospital  stood  on  the  opposite  ends,  east 
and  west,  of  the  same  block,  whilst  the  Rectory  was  on  the  brow 
of  the  hill,  about  half  way  between.  It  was  now  the  hour  for 
Mass ;  the  writer  had  to  go  to  the  other  end  of  the  block  to  reach 
the  church.  Considerable  snow  had  fallen  during  the  night,  and 
he  had  on  no  shoes,  but  a  pair  of  very  light  slippers.  He  looked 
for  his  shoes  which  had  been  placed  by  the  lounge.  But  they 
were  no  longer  there ;  they,  too,  had  disappeared  as  mysteriously 
as  the  patient.  Kindly  the  Sisters  came  to  his  relief  and  loaned 
him  a  pair,  which,  though  not  quite  a  perfect  fit,  answered  the 
purpose  fairly  well. 

Shortly  after  Mass,  the  joint  hero  of  the  story,  and  Father 
Imoda,  his  companion,  had  to  go  down  town  on  some  urgent 
matter.  As  they  reached  the  foot  of  Broadway,  Col.  C.  D. 
Curtis,  emerging  from  his  junk  shop  just  opposite,  greeted  them 
warmly  and  showed  some  surprise  at  seeing  them  out  rather  early 
that  morning;  and  with  a  mischievous  wink,  asked  whether  we 
had  not  come  down  for  some  footwear.  Then,  with  a  roar,  as 
was  his  wont  when  something  unusually  comical  came  to  his 
notice:  "You  need  not  hide  it,  Reverend  Fathers;  it  is  a  rich 
one  and  known  all  over  the  city  by  this  time." 

The  telephone  was  as  yet  an  unknown  convenience,  and  we 
could  not  but  wonder  how  things  had  leaked  out  and  spread  far 
and  wide  in  so  short  a  time.  Moreover,  it  was  circulated  during 
the  day  that  a  patient  had  run  off  from  the  hospital  in  the  priest's 


FATHER  PHILIP  RAPPAGLIOSI  AND  OTHERS  217 

clothes,  which  would  have  to  be  reblessed  before  they  could  be 
used  again.  Nor  could  the  news  have  been  devoid  of  all  public 
interest,  as  it  found  its  way  into  the  local  papers. 

About  noon  a  very  courteous  colored  gentleman  called  at  the 
Rectory.  He  carried  a  parcel  neatly  done  up,  which  he  presented 
to  the  writer  as  coming  from  a  personal  friend.  Its  contents 
were  soon  revealed.  They  were  the  missing  shoes,  accompanied 
by  a  note  expressing  the  thanks  of  the  user.  He  had  quietly 
appropriated  the  footgear,  as  soon  as  he  became  convinced  that 
his  guardian  was  fast  asleep.  Then  he  placed  one  foot  on  the 
edge  of  the  lounge,  and  bending  over  the  sleeper  without  touching 
him,  he  reached  for  the  lower  sash,  which  he  carefully  raised, 
and  crawled  through  the  window  as  stealthily  as  a  professional 
burglar.  And  once  on  the  porch,  he  was  a  free  man,  although 
he  had  nothing  on,  but  his  night  clothes  and  a  pair  of  borrowed 
shoes. 

Evidently  he  had  now  his  wits  about  him.  He  was,  further, 
considerate  enough,  when  out,  to  shut  at  once  the  window  which 
he  had  opened,  and  this  not  so  much  to  delay  the  discovery  of 
his  exit,  as  to  save  the  sleeping  orderly  from  contracting  a  serious 
cold  from  the  air  of  that  January  night ;  which  was,  indeed, 
eminently  charitable.  Hence,  since  it  is  written  that  "Charity 
covereth  a  multitude  of  sins,"  let  us  dismiss  any  further  refer- 
ence to  the  incident  and  return  to  our  chronicle. 

Through  his  long  intercourse  with  the  Blackfeet,  Father 
Imoda  became  quite  familiar  with  their  language,  and  compiled 
a  small  dictionary  and  grammar  in  it.  But  so  far  as  the  writer 
knows,  the  books  were  never  published.  The  Father  had  taken 
from  the  very  beginning  of  the  Mission  the  greatest  interest  in 
its  welfare  and  resumed  with  renewed  zeal  and  fervor  the  work 
of  the  Indian's  conversion.  But  new  and  serious  difficulties  had 
now  to  be  confronted. 

The  rapid  settling  of  the  region  by  the  whites  had  caused  the 
U.  S.  Government  to  restrict  the  territory  of  the  Blackfeet,  and, 
as  a  consequence,  the  Indians  were  now  placed  on  a  reservation 
some  sixty  miles  away  from  the  Mission.  The  care  of  the  reser- 
vation had  been  entrusted  by  the  Indian  Department  to 
Protestant  missionaries.  The  result  of  this  arrangement  was 
the  development  of  great  opposition  to  Catholic  influences.     In 


2i8        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

exactly  the  same  condition  were  the  Gros  Ventres  and  Assini- 
boines. 

However,  earnest  and  faithful  work  among  the  tribes  was 
done  by  Father  C.  Imoda  and  his  companion,  Father  Philip 
Rappagliosi,  and  likewise  by  Father  P.  P.  Prando,  who  sometime 
later  on  arrived  to  share  their  labors. 

After  several  years  of  discouragement,  a  remarkable  change 
for  the  better  has  become  very  noticeable,  a  change  the  more  sur- 
prising, because  rather  unexpected.  What  is  to  account  for  it? 
We  do  not  know  ;  for  God's  ways  and  dealings  with  His  creatures 
are  beyond  human  ken.  Still,  who  knows,  but  its  real  cause  lies 
in  the  facts  we  shall  now  put  on  record? 

On  the  7th  day  of  February,  1878,  near  Fort  Belknap,  in  the 
Milk  River  country,  died  Father  Philip  Rappagliosi,  who  has 
been  called  deservedly  the  apostle  of  the  Blackfeet.  Though 
mysterious  and  untimely,  his  death  was  unquestionably  natural. 
We  say  "unquestionably  natural"  advisably,  to  contradict  the 
rumor  that  Father  Rappagliosi  had  been  foully  dealt  with  by  a 
certain  individual,  whose  life  appears  to  have  been  unworthy  of 
his  cloth.  The  person  referred  to  had  scandalized  the  Indians 
by  his  misbehavior  and  mercenary  conduct.  He  became  bitterly 
antagonistic  to  Father  Rappagliosi,  whose  disinterested  and  holy 
life  contrasted  sharply  with  his  own,  and  whom  he  traduced 
unscrupulously  before  the  Indians  and  half-breeds  of  the 
neighborhood. 

Henry  Brooks,  a  personal  friend  of  the  writer  for  years, 
happened  to  be  near  the  place  where  Father  Rappagliosi  fell 
sick.  He  became  the  Father's  voluntary  nurse  and  stood  by 
him  day  and  night  to  the  last.  A  few  days  before  Father 
Rappagliosi  died,  the  man  in  question  called  to  see  him.  He  was 
refused  admittance  at  first  by  the  attendant,  till  Father  Rappag- 
liosi himself  bade  the  latter  to  let  him  in.  The  visitor  now  pre- 
pared a  medicine  which,  he  said,  would  soon  relieve  the  patient. 
It  failed  to  do  so,  as  may  happen  in  any  sickness,  not  every 
remedy  proving  helpful.  The  Father  grew  worse,  and  died  a 
few  days  later. 

Upon  this,  some  Indians  and  half-breeds — and  also  some 
whites — started  the  rumor  that  the  man  had  given  the  Father  a 
poisonous  preparation  to  kill  him.  The  rumor  gained  ground 
and  spread  far  and  wide.     It  even  crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  we 


FATHER  PHILIP  RAPPAGLIOSI  AND  OTHERS  219 

know  that  the  Father  General  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  who 
cherished  in  a  special  manner  Father  Rappagliosi,  on  hearing  the 
rumor,  expressed  himself  as  follows :  "Mi  scrissero  che  era  morto, 
ma  non  mi  scrissero  che  me  lo  hanno  ammazzato" ;  that  is,  "They 
wrote  me  that  he  (Father  Rappagliosi)  had  died,  but  they  did 
not  write  that  they  had  killed  him." 

The  Father's  relatives  in  Rome  also  heard  the  rumor,  and 
applied  to  the  Italian  authorities  to  have  the  case  looked  into. 
Hence,  upon  a  request  of  the  Italian  Government  addressed  to 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Washington,  D.  C,  the  Secretary 
of  War  was  directed  by  the  latter  to  investigate  the  case.  This 
he  did  by  appointing  for  this  special  purpose  a  Military  Commis- 
sion, Col.  Moale,  U.  S.  A.,  being  one  of  the  members.  The 
writer  was  called  upon  by  the  officer  just  mentioned,  for  any 
information  that  might  help  the  Commission  to  a  thorough 
investigation  of  the  matter  in  question.  Pursuant  to  instructions 
received  from  Washington,  the  members  of  the  Commission 
visited  the  place  where  Father  Rappagliosi  had  died,  examined 
witnesses,  whites,  half-breeds  and  Indians,  and  looked  into 
everything  that  could  throw  any  light  on  the  subject  before  them. 
As  we  learned  afterward  from  Col.  Moale  himself,  the  investi- 
gation brought  out  nothing  to  substantiate  the  rumor.* 

This  youthful  and  saintly  missionary  had  been  advised  to  be 
more  careful  of  his  health.  He  would  reply :  "Someone's 
health  has  to  be  exposed,  and  even  sacrificed  for  the  conversion 
of  these  savages." 

Before  setting  out  on  his  last  missionary  tour  among  the 
Piegans  and  half-breeds  along  the  Marias  and  in  the  Milk  River 
country,  he  embraced  all  his  religious  brethren  and  said  to  one : 
"Dear  Brother,  should  I  return  no  more,  pray,  please,  for  the 
peace  of  my  soul."  He  did  not  return.  In  a  message  to  his 
brethren  at  St.  Peter's  Mission  he  expressed  himself  as  if  grief 

*  We  may  further  add  here  in  parenthesis,  that  the  last  letter  written  by- 
Father  Rappagliosi  was  addressed  to  us.  It  was  written  in  pencil  some  eight 
days  before  his  death.  In  that  letter,  after  alluding  to  some  of  his  trials, 
the  heart-broken  missionary  asked,  as  a  matter  of  conscience,  that  the  Ordi- 
nary who  had  jurisdiction  over  that  part  of  the  country,  might  be  made 
acquainted  with  the  religious  state  of  affairs  thereabout,  a  lamentable  state, 
which  entailed  the  ruin  of  souls,  and  was  hastening  the  Father  to  his  grave. 
We  complied  with  his  dying  request,  transmitting  his  letter  to  the  proper 
authorities. 


220        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

more  than  sickness  would  bring  about  his  death ;  grief,  that  the 
people  for  whose  welfare  he  was  enduring  so  many  hardships, 
showed  themselves  utterly  indifferent.  Living  for  them  had  not 
availed,  apparently,  to  move  their  hearts;  perhaps,  dying  for 
them  would  accomplish  the  object.  He  therefore  resolved  to 
offer  up 'his  life  for  their  conversion;  and  God  seemed  to  accept 
the  offering.  For  the  noticeable  change  in  favor  of  Christianity, 
which  we  have  mentioned  above,  dates  from  the  very  hour  that 
his  saintly  soul  passed  to  a  better  life.  Hence  our  belief,  that 
he  died  a  voluntary  martyr  for  the  salvation  of  the  Blackfeet. 

We  reproduce  from  the  Helena  Herald  of  February  18,  1878, 
the  obituary  notice  of  the  departed  missionary.  It  is  well  worth 
while,  for  it  contains  interesting  particulars  of  the  Father's  life, 
of  his  last  sickness  and  his  obsequies.  The  obituary  is  from  the 
pen  of  Major  R.  C.  Walker,  U.  S.  A.,  an  esteemed  citizen 
of  Helena,  who  in  the  summer  of  1875  had  kindly  given  Father 
Rappagliosi  lessons  in  the  English  language  while  the  Father  was 
spending  a  few  days  in  the  city. 

The  first  sacred  rites  ever  solemnized  in  Helena  or  Montana 
since  its  organization  at  the  funeral  of  a  Priest  of  God,  were  yes- 
terday celebrated  in  the  Church  of  the  Sacred  Hearts,  in  honor  of 
the  interment  of  the  remains  of  the  Rev.  Philip  Rappagliosi,  S.  J.,  a 
young  priest  only  thirty-seven  years  of  age.  The  occasion  was 
rendered  doubly  affecting  by  the  delivery  of  a  touching  sermon  by 
the  Rev.  Father  Palladino,  on  the  Gospel  of  the  day,  which  contained 
the  parable  of  the  householder  who  had  gone  out  early  in  the  morning 
and  at  the  third,  the  sixth,  the  ninth  and  the  eleventh  hour,  to  provide 
laborers  for  his  vineyard.  He  alluded  to  the  deceased  Father  as  one 
who  had  been  called  at  the  early  age  of  fifteen,  and  who,  after  a 
devoted  and  zealous  priesthood,  had  given  up  his  life  as  a  martyr 
for  the  salvation  of  souls,  and  as  one  of  the  few  spoken  of  in  the 
Gospel  who  had  undoubtedly  been  chosen. 

Philip  Rappagliosi  was  born  at  Rome,  September  14,  1841,  of 
respectable  parents.  He  entered  the  Society  of  Jesus  on  the  28th  of 
September,  1856,  and  completed  his  studies  in  Divinity  in  the  Roman 
College  under  Father  (now  Cardinal)  Franzelin,  and  was  afterwards 
Professor  of  Rhetoric  in  the  same  institution :  was  ordained  Priest 
at  thirty  years  of  age,  and  soon  afterwards  was  sent  to  the  Indian 
Missions  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  reached  Helena  about 
Christmas,  1873,  where  he  remained  a  few  days,  and  then  continued 
his  journey  to  St.  Mary's  Mission  in  the  Bitter  Root  Valley,  where 


FATHER  PHILIP  RAPPAGLIOSI  AND  OTHERS  221 

he  mastered  the  Flat  Head  language,  and  was  able  to  converse  and 
preach  in  that  tongue  while  exercising  his  ministerial  duties  among 
the  Indians.  From  there  he  was  sent  in  June,  1875,  to  St.  Peter's 
Mission  among  the  Blackfeet. 

During  his  missionary  labors  among  this  nation  he  learned  their 
language  also,  and  in  this  field  he  was  called  to  his  reward  from  a 
rude  hut  in  a  camp  of  half-breeds  on  Milk  River,  Montana,  about 
fifteen  miles  from  Fort  Belknap.  During  his  last  illness,  which 
continued  twenty  days,  he  was  attended  by  Father  Decorby,  O.  M.  I., 
who  came  down  to  visit  him  from  the  Cypress  Hills,  about  eighty 
miles  distant.  From  the  hands  of  Father  Decorby  he  received  the 
last  sacraments,  and  died  about  eight  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  Feb- 
ruary 7,  1878,  surrounded  by  his  faithful  followers,  whose  care  and 
kind  attention  to  the  dying  priest  were  all  that  sorrowing  friends 
could  administer. 

The  remains  were  brought  to  Fort  Benton  by  Henry  Brooks,  who 
had  attended  the  Rev.  Father  with  a  parent's  care  throughout  his 
illness,  and  were  received  by  the  citizens  of  Benton  with  every  mark 
of  respect,  and  Mass  was  said  there  for  the  repose  of  his  soul  by  the 
Rev.  Father  Imoda  at  the  residence  of  Mr.  T.  C.  Power.  Thence 
they  were  conveyed  by  private  vehicle,  under  the  charge  of  the  Rev. 
Father  Imoda,  assisted  by  some  other  friends,  to  St.  Peter's  Mission, 
where  a  rest  was  had  for  the  night  and  Mass  said  next  morning. 
From  thence  the  remains  were  transported  by  private  conveyance 
by  Mr.  Thomas  Moran  to  Helena,  where  they  arrived  under  charge 
of  the  indefatigable  Father  Imoda  at  one  o'clock  yesterday  morning. 
A  number  of  Catholic  gentlemen,  supposing  the  remains  would  arrive 
by  coach,  and  desiring  to  pay  all  possible  honor  and  respect  to  the 
deceased  Father,  went  out  on  the  stage  road  on  Saturday  with  a 
hearse  and  carriages  for  that  purpose.  No  honor  was  deemed  too 
great  to  be  offered  in  respect  to  the  honored  dead. 

The.  many  sacrifices  in  the  short  life  of  this  young  priest,  from  the 
day  he  left  a  loving  father  and  mother  to  the  self-abnegation  and 
compulsory  fasts  among  the  Indians  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  would 
make  an  offering  so  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  God  that  few  would 
have  the  grace  to  emulate  it,  and  so  pure  that  the  comprehension 
of  the  selfish  worldling  would  fail  to  appreciate  its  worth. 

After  the  High  Mass  at  ten  o'clock,  celebrated  by  the  Rev.  Father 
Imoda,  the  remains  were  borne  by  six  pall-bearers,  preceded  by 
priests  and  acolytes,  from  the  sacristy,  where  they  had  been  watched 
and  viewed  by  the  faithful  from  early  morn,  to  the  front  of  the  main 
altar,  where  they  were  blessed,  prayers  said,  the  congregation  rising 
and  remaining  standing  until  the  ceremonies  were  concluded.    They 


222        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

were  then  taken  from  the  church,  the  whole  congregation  following 
in  solemn  procession,  to  the  enduring  vault  prepared  for  them  under 
the  rear  of  the  church.  Here  the  prayers  of  the  last  sad  rites  were 
said  and  the  casket  containing  all  that  was  mortal  of  the  deceased 
Father  was  slowly  and  solemnly  consigned  to  its  receptacle  built 
in  the  rocks  of  mother  earth,  the  ceremonies  ending  with  the  parting 
prayer,  Requiescat  in  pace. 

Philip  Rappagliosi  is  the  second  priest  to  die  in  Montana.  His 
life,  written  in  Italian  and  published  in  Rome  some  time  after 
his  death,  besides  his  biography,  contains  several  of  the  letters 
written  to  relatives  and  friends.  Together  with  these  are  also 
letters  that  were  written  to  him  while  on  the  Indian  Missions  by 
his  father,  a  gentleman  held  in  the  highest  esteem  for  his  singular 
piety  and  learning. 

Looked  at  from  a  human  point  of  view,  Father  Rappagliosi's 
death  was  a  serious  loss  for  the  Indian  Missions,  especially  with 
respect  to  the  Blackfeet,  Assiniboines  and  Gros  Ventres.  But 
God,  as  He  alone  could  do,  turned  it  into  gain  and  a  visible 
blessing,  not  only  for  the  tribes  just  mentioned,  but  for  all  the 
Indians  of  the  mountains.  For,  besides  working  a  remarkable 
change  in  the  disposition  of  the  former  toward  the  faith — a 
change  attributed  to  his  death  by  all  our  missionaries — it  brought 
new  and  efficient  laborers  into  the  field.  No  sooner  heard  they 
the  news  of  his  death  than  several  of  his  fellow-students  and 
former  companions  in  Rome  offered  themselves  to  go  and  take 
his  place.  They  yearned  to  follow  his  example  and  to  devote 
their  own  lives  for  the  conversion  of  the  Indians  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  Father  Philip  Canestrelli,  whom  we  have  already 
met  hard  at  work  among  the  Indians  of  St.  Ignatius,  as  well  as 
Father  Joseph  Damiani,  who  arrived  with  him  in  the  spring  of 
1879,  were  two  of  these  volunteers;  while  Father  P.  P.  Prando, 
who  shortly  after  came  to  join  them,  was  another.  Father 
Prando  and  Father  Damiani  were  assigned  to  the  Blackfoot  Mis- 
sion, where  by  their  zeal  and  efficiency  they  soon  proved  them- 
selves worthy  successors  of  Father  Rappagliosi.  Thus  the  loss 
became  profit. 

About  this  time  the  missionaries  at  St.  Peter's  bent  their  efforts 
to  provide  educational  facilities  for  the  youth  of  the  tribes  under 
their  spiritual  charge.     They  erected  a  substantial  stone  building 


FATHER  PHILIP  RAPPAGLIOSI  AND  OTHERS  223 

and  a  boys'  school  was  opened  with  Brother  Robert  Hamilton 
in  its  immediate  charge.  A  serious  difficulty  in  the  way  of  the 
success  of  the  school  was  its  distance  from  the  new  reservation. 
However,  before  long  there  was  a  fair  attendance. 

From  1855  to  the  period  we  are  now  treating  of,  that  is,  to 
the  close  of  1879,  St.  Peter's  Mission  had  on  its  records  2,732 
Indian  baptisms. 

While  Father  Damiani,  who  had  now  been  placed  at  the  head 
of  the  Mission,  attended  the  Indians  and  half-breeds  to  the  east, 
from  Milk  River  to  the  Mussel-Shell  and  along  the  Missouri; 
Father  Prando's  field  lay  further  up,  to  the  north,  and  close  to 
the  Blackfoot  reservation.  We  say  "close  to,"  for  the  intolerant 
Indian  agent,  the  petty  autocrat  in  charge,  would  not  allow  the 
Catholic  missionary  to  reside  within  its  limits.  Unable  to  do 
better,  the  Father  remained  on  the  banks  of  Birch  Creek,  where 
he  built  a  little  hut  for  a  dwelling,  and  also  a  small  chapel  for 
the  Indians.  Here  they  would  meet  occasionally  for  instruction, 
notwithstanding  the  agent's  opposition. 

On  his  rounds  among  these  people,  and  in  the  intervals  he 
spent  in  his  little  cabin  on  Birch  Creek,  Father  Prando,  as  it 
were  by  contraband,  baptized  686  Blackfeet  and  united  in  matri- 
mony fifty-five  Indian  couples. 


Chapter  XXIX. 

STARVATION  AMONG  THE  PIEGANS.      SCHOOL  FOR  INDIAN  GIRLS. 

THE  year  1883-84,  from  fall  to  early  summer,  was  a  sad, 
melancholy  one  for  the  Piegans,  more  than  one-third  of  the 
whole  tribe  perishing  from  starvation.  That  we  do  not  exagger- 
ate, is  evident  from  the  official  report  of  David  Urquhart,  Jr., 
whom  his  Excellency,  Governor  Crosby,  sent  to  investigate  the 
facts  in  the  matter,  and  by  whom  the  following  figures  were 
copied  from  the  Agency  rolls. 

"In  August,  1883,"  says  the  report,  "the  heads  of  families 
that  drew  rations  from  the  Agency  represented  3,144  souls; 
while  on  the  corresponding  day  of  1884,  the  number  to  whom 
rations  were  issued  was  2,281.  In  reality,"  adds  the  report, 
"the  number  of  Indians  does  not  probably  exceed  2,000  at  the 
present  date."  Whence  the  difference  of  more  than  one-third? 
'The  mortality  among  them,"  declares  Mr.  Urquhart,  "has  been 
ten  times  as  great  as  it  should  be  in  the  absence  of  contagious 
disease."  Out  of  Little  Crane's  family  of  fourteen,  six  died. 
Little  Bull  counted  six  dead  in  his  family  of  nine,  and  so  on  of 
the  rest,  there  being  few,  if  any  family  at  all,  that  did  not  lament 
the  loss  of  one  or  more  members  carried  off  by  starvation. 

Father  Prando  was  among  them  most  of  this  time,  and  his 
heart  bled  at  the  harrowing  scenes  before  him.  What  a  sad, 
sad  spectacle,  to  see  a  whole  people  tottering  to  their  graves  for 
want  of  something  to  eat! 

Two  pounds  of  meat  and  some  two  pounds  of  flour  made  up 
a  week's  allowance  for  each  adult  and  was  all  the  sustenance 
they  had.  Occasionally,  some  did  not  get  even  that  little  in 
two  weeks.  The  scant  pittance  was  soon  devoured,  lasting  barely 
two  days,  and  for  the  rest  of  the  week  they  had  to  live  on  air 
and  sunshine.  Those  who  had  strength  enough  to  do  so,  scoured 
the  neighboring  ranges,  and  supported  themselves  for  awhile  on 
cattle  that  had  died  from  exposure,  want  of  feed,  and  even 
disease. 


PIEGANS  225 

As  will  be  seen  directly,  the  writer  had  occasion  to  go  among 
those  most  wretched  Indians  hardly  a  month  after  Mr.  Urqu- 
hart's  visit.  We  had  thus  every  opportunity,  not  only  of  verify- 
ing the  correctness  of  his  report  to  Governor  Crosby,  but  also 
of  seeing  for  ourselves  some  of  the  distressing  effects  of  the 
famine.  Nor  was  there  need  of  a  medical  eye  or  any  professional 
training  to  discover  them,  as  they  were  but  too  strikingly  visible 
in  the  gaunt,  thin  forms,  that  made  skeletons  of  old  and  young 
alike. 

But  whence  such  a  desperate  state  of  affairs  in  this  land  of 
plenty,  among  the  most  generous  of  all  peoples,  and  under  the 
most  liberal  Government  on  earth?  The  greediness  of  the 
frontier  man,  the  dishonesty  of  officials,  as  well  as  the  cabals 
of  scheming  politicians  will  have  to  answer  for  it.  Through 
the  conspiracy  of  these  three  elements,  the  Piegans  were  confined 
within  the  limits  of  a  barren  country,  utterly  unfit  to  support 
human  life,  not  even  the  life  of  an  Indian.  Further,  the  real 
condition  of  these  poor  wretches  had  been  misrepresented  time 
and  again  to  the  Government  at  Washington.  The  worthy  in 
charge,  at  this  very  time,  had  stated  in  his  annual  report  to  the 
Department,  that  these  Indians  "were  cultivating  800  acres  of 
land  and  were  in  a  fair  way  to  become  self-supporting;"  whereas, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  not  as  many  as  ten,  acres  had  been  put  under 
cultivation,  and  "there  is  no  evidence,"  declares  Mr.  Urquhart, 
"that  there  were  ever  more."  Further,  "there  being  no  game  of 
any  kind  in  this  section,  the  Piegans  were  thus  wholly  dependent 
for  every  mouthful  of  food  on  the  Government  rations."  How 
could  the  general  Government  at  Washington  come  to  the  relief 
of  the  poor  wretches  and  make  timely  provision  for  them  under 
the  circumstances,  when  their  wants  were  denied  or  palliated  by 
its  own  officials  on  the  spot? 

We  were  stationed  at  this  date  at  St.  Ignatius,  and  from 
correspondence  with  Father  P.  Prando,  felt  prompted  to  submit 
to  the  Indian  Department,  through  the  Catholic  Indian  Mission 
Bureau,  what  a  benefit  it  would  prove  for  the  Black  feet  if  some 
of  their  children  could  be  educated  in  the  flourishing  Indian 
Schools  at  St.  Ignatius.  Our  proposal  met  with  the  approval  of 
the  Washington  authorities,  and  we  were  directed  to  carry  it 
out.     This  is  what  brought  us  among  the  Piegans  at  the  time 


226        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

indicated.  And  it  is  but  history  to  add  here,  that  through  Father 
P.  Prando,  who  was  highly  esteemed  and  beloved  by  the  whole 
tribe,  our  mission  proved  successful.  Quite  a  number  of  Black- 
feet  or  Piegan  youths  were  brought  over  to  St.  Ignatius,  where 
they  had  all  the  advantages  of  a  home  and  school  education  for 
several  years. 

The  Fathers  of  St.  Peter's  Mission  had  been  contemplating 
for  a  good  while  to  supplement  the  school  for  Indian  boys  with 
a  school  for  Indian  and  half-breed  girls.  This  important  measure 
was  carried  out  at  this  time,  when  a  band  of  Ursuline  Nuns 
arrived  at  the  Mission  to  conduct  the  new  department. 

In  1885  there  were  in  the  Mission  School,  all  told,  thirty  con- 
tract pupils,  that  is,  Indian  pupils  partly  paid  for  by  the  Govern- 
ment. The  number  was  added  to  at  different  times,  until  the 
children  counted  an  even  two  hundred,  190  of  them  being  pro- 
vided for  by  the  Indian  Department  at  the  monthly  rate  of  $9.00 
per  pupil.  The  institution  has  today  accommodations  for  400 
children.  The  buildings  are  substantial,  being  stone;  while  the 
school  facilities  leave  nothing  to  be  desired,  complete  as  they 
are,  and  up  to  date  in  every  particular. 

The  Ursuline  Nuns  have  made  St.  Peter's  Mission  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Order  in  Montana.  Their  new  home,  a  large 
stone  structure,  now  nearing  completion,  would  be  a  credit  to 
any  place  in  the  Northwest.  Here  they  have  also  a  Novitiate 
for  the  training  of  young  ladies  who  feel  called  to  join  the  Sis- 
terhood, wherein  they  may  devote  their  whole  lives  to  God's 
service  in  the  work  of  education  and  the  other  pursuits  proper 
to  the  Order. 

After  spending  several  years  among  the  Blackfeet,  Father  P. 
Prando  in  1884  came  to  St.  Ignatius.  His  place  among  the 
Indians,  in  the  meanwhile,  was  assigned  to  Father  Gaspar  Genna 
and  other  members  of  the  Society. 

And  now,  having  given  the  history  of  the  parent  stock,*  there 
remains  to  speak  of  its  offspring,  that  is,  of  the  two  Missions, 
of  the  Holy  Family,  and  of  St.  Paul,  both  recently  established. 
But  before  proceeding,  we  cannot  forego  the  pleasure  of  men- 
tioning- here  once  more  the  name  of  Thomas  Moran,  a  faithful 
steward,  who  worked  for  the  Fathers  at  St.  Peter's  a  number 

*  St.  Peter's  Mission. 


PIEGANS  227 

of  years.  No  one  was  ever  more  friendly  to  them  or  more 
devoted  to  the  welfare  and  success  of  the  Mission.  This  hard- 
working old-timer  is  still  living  in  that  vicinity,  where  he  has 
permanently  settled,  and  he  is  today  the  happy  father  of  several 
children,  to  whose  lot  could  never  fall  a  nobler  and  richer  inheri- 
tance than  to  copy  and  reproduce  in  themselves  the  industry  and 
solid  Christian  virtues  of  their  father  and  their  mother. 


Chapter  XXX. 

HOLY  FAMILY   MISSION  AND  SCHOOLS. 

THIS  Mission  owes  its  beginning  to  Father  P.   Prando,  at 
Birch  Creek,  on  the  outskirts  of  the  Blackfoot  reservation; 
and  was  at  first  a  dependency  of  the  Mission  of  St.  Peter. 

A  few  years  later,  in  1885,  Father  J.  M.  Cataldo,  the  Superior 
of  the  Missions,  applied  to  the  Government  at  Washington, 
through  the  Catholic  Indian  Mission  Bureau,  for  authorization 
to  erect  buildings  "for  Indian  schools  and  mission  work  among 
the  Indians  belonging  to  the  Blackfeet,  Fort  Peck  and  Crow 
Agencies,  on  their  respective  reservations."  The  request  having 
been  granted,  the  original  location  on  Birch  Creek  was  changed 
for  a  more  central  site  on  Two  Medicine  Creek,  where  large 
and  comfortable  buildings  were  erected,  the  Misses  Drexel,  of 
Philadelphia,  supplying  the  funds. 

As  soon  as  the  accommodations  were  ready,  the  Catholic 
Indian  Mission  Bureau  applied  to  the  Government  to  obtain  an 
allowance  for  "the  education  and  support  of  100  Indian  children 
at  the  Holy  Family  Indian  School  at  the  Blackfeet  Agency."  A 
bill  to  that  effect  was  introduced  by  Hon.  T.  H.  Carter,  Mon- 
tana's Delegate  to  Congress,  and  passed  the  House.  The  Senate 
Committee,  however,  reported  it  adversely.  The  bill  came  up  for 
discussion  before  the  Senate  July  25,  1890,  and  was  passed  by 
a  vote  of  twenty-seven  to  nineteen. 

Considering  the  short  time  of  their  existence,  the  Holy  Family 
Mission  Schools  have  attained  excellent  results  in  every  way. 

According  to  the  Catholic  system  of  education,  the  schools  are 
divided  into  distinct  and  separate  departments,  one  for  the  Indian 
boys,  the  other  for  Indian  girls.  Members  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus  conduct  the  former,  while  the  latter  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
Ursuline  Nuns. 

The  first  in  charge  of  the  Mission  was  Father  Philbertus 
Tornielli.  Next  came  Father  Damiani,  who  took  the  former's 
place  in  1892,  remaining  to  the  spring  of  1898,  and  built  during 


HOLY  FAMILY   MISSION   AND   SCHOOLS  229 

the  while  a  residence  for  the  Fathers  and  the  boys.  It  is  a 
substantial  structure  of  native  sandstone  quarried  from  the  neigh- 
boring hills.  In  the  winter  of  1898,  the  original  frame  quarters 
occupied  by  the  female  department,  were  almost  entirely 
destroyed  by  fire.  They  were  replaced  soon  after  by  a  sandstone 
edifice  erected  by  Father  Bandini,  who  took  for  a  year  or  so 
the  post  of  Father  Damiani.  Next,  but  only  for  a  few  months, 
came  Father  Ignatius  A.  Vasta.  Father  Damiani  returned  to 
this  field,  and  conducted  the  Mission  till  1905,  when  he  was 
relieved  of  his  charge  by  Father  Joseph  Bruckert  for  some  three 
years.  The  latter's  place  was  now  taken  for  some  time  by 
Father  Philip  Delon,  and  then  by  Father  Peter  Bougis,  and 
lastly,  once  more,  by  Father  Damiani,  who  quite  recently  has 
been  sent  back  to  his  former  camping  ground. 

Browning,*  a  town  some  eighteen  miles  from  the  Mission,  is 
confided  to  the  missionary  care  of  Father  J.  B.  Carroll,  whose 
little  church  is  well  filled  with  Indians  every  Sunday. 

♦Browning  is  now  (Sept.  1922)   in  charge  of  one  of  the  secular  clergy  of 
the   Diocese   of  Helena. 


Chapter  XXXI. 

st.  paul's  mission,     father  Frederick  eberschweiler. 

schools. 

ST.  PAUL'S  Mission,  also  an  offspring  of  St.  Peter's,  is 
located  in  what  are  called  the  Little  Rockies,  on  the  reserva- 
tion of  the  Gros  Ventres  and  Assiniboines.  Some  fifty  years 
ago,  the  Gros  Ventres  alone  were  reckoned  at  about  10,000 
souls.     Today,  all  told,  they  number  less  than  2,000. 

Father  De  Smet,  and  after  him  Father  Point,  were  the  first 
who  did  some  missionary  work  among  these  Indians.  Next  came 
Father  Giorda,  who  in  1862,  baptized  134  children  belonging  to 
the  tribe  of  Gros  Ventres.  Both  nations  were  visited  several 
times  by  Father  Rappagliosi,  who  did  much  good  among  them. 
Father  U.  Grassi  also  was  among  them  for  a  time  in  1879,  and 
baptized  a  number  of  Assiniboines.  Some  children  of  the  same 
tribe  were  baptized  in  1883  by  Father  J.  Damiani,  and  several 
others  by  Father  J.  Bandini  in  1884.  Both  tribes  for  years  had 
been  asking  to  have  among  them  resident  Black  Robes,  but  to 
no  avail  for  a  long  while. 

In  1885,  Father  Cataldo  obtained  from  the  U.  S.  Government 
the  authorization  to  erect  buildings  on  the  reserve  for  school  and 
mission  work.  No  sooner  had  leave  been  granted,  than  he 
directed  Father  Eberschweiler  to  commence  operations  at  once 
by  putting  up  a  temporary  structure,  not  far  from  the  spot  where 
saintly  Father  Rappagliosi  had  died.  This,  however,  was  done 
as  a  preliminary  move  only,  and  to  forestall  opposition  on  the 
part  of  certain  non-Catholics,  who  were  ever  ready  to  throw 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  Catholic  action.  The  place  presented 
serious  disadvantages  for  a  permanent  Mission  site,  there  being 
no  timber  in  the  vicinity,  and  the  water,  besides,  was  so  saturated 
with  alkali  as  to  be  of  a  milky  color  (hence  the  name  of  Milk 
River).  Further  still,  owing  to  the  low  bed  of  the  river,  water 
could  not  be  brought  out  to  irrigate  the  land ;  and  without  irriga- 


ST.  PAUL'S  MISSION  231 

tion  successful  farming,  because  of  the  dry  summer  weather  pre- 
vailing in  this  section,  would  be  out  of  the  question. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  was  a  matter  of  prudence  that  some- 
thing should  be  done  without  delay  toward  the  establishment  of 
the  Mission.  Hence,  according  to  directions,  Father  Eber- 
schweiler  secured  a  small  wooden  building  near  Fort  Belknap, 
and  fitted  it  up  for  a  chapel  where  he  said  Mass  December  8, 
the  Feast  of  the  Immaculate  Conception.  It  was  on  this  tempo- 
rary site  and  in  such  quarters  that  St.  Paul  Mission  was  started. 
Father  Eberschweiler  passed  the  winter  of  1885-86  studying  the 
Assiniboine  language,  instructing  some  twenty  children,  and  vis- 
iting the  sick.  Of  the  latter  he  instructed  and  baptized  several 
at  their  own  request  in  their  last  illness. 

After  conferring  with  the  Indians,  Father  Eberschweiler  early 
the  following  spring,  1886,  started  for  the  Little  Rockies  to  seek 
for  a  more  desirable  site  for  the  Mission.  On  May  first  he 
picked  out  a  charming  spot  on  People's  Creek,  a  stream  of  sweet, 
clear  water,  which  has  its  source  up  in  the  mountains,  and  run- 
ning through  the  valley  below,  empties  into  Milk  River  near  Fort 
Browning.  While  the  soil  is  rich  and  timber  plentiful,  numerous 
mountain  springs  feed  the  stream  just  mentioned  and  supply  an 
abundance  of  wholesome  water  for  domestic  use  and  also  for 
irrigation.  The  Indians  felt  much  pleased  with  the  location,  the 
more  so,  that  the  spot  was  one  of  their  favorite  resorts  in  the 
buffalo  hunts  of  former  years. 

Soon  after,  at  the  suggestion  of  Father  Eberschweiler,  all  the 
chiefs  and  leading  men  of  the  two  tribes  petitioned  the  Govern- 
ment to  be  allowed  to  move  and  settle  on  these  lands.  The 
authorities  looked  favorably  on  the  petition  and  appointed  a 
special  Commission  to  carry  out  the  wishes  of  the  Indians. 
Accordingly,  in  January,  1886,  by  treaty  stipulations  the  Indians 
surrendered  to  the  Government  whatever  country  they  claimed 
as  their  own,  except  an  area  of  some  40,000  square  miles  adjacent 
to  the  Little  Rockies,  which  the  Government  was  to  recognize  as 
reserved  and  set  apart  for  their  own  exclusive  use  and  occupancy. 

From  a  moral  and  a  material  point  of  view,  as  well,  the  condi- 
tion of  the  Gros  Ventres  and  Assiniboines  at  this  time  was, 
indeed,  very  deplorable.  Those  to  whose  inefficient  ministry 
they  had  been  confided  for  years  had  won  neither  the  good  will 


232        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

nor  the  respect  of  their  charges,  and  had  done  practically  noth- 
ing to  lift  them  from  degradation  and  barbarism.  Reduced, 
besides,  to  a  state  of  destitution  and  beggary  by  the  rapid  and 
total  extinction  of  the  buffalo,  and  the  country  around  offering 
no  advantage  whatever  to  make  a  living  by  agriculture,  the  poor 
wretches  attempted  to  eke  out  a  filthy  and  most  miserable  exist- 
ence by  wholesale  prostitution.  The  military  post  close  by 
afforded  them  additional  opportunities  for  the  degrading  traffic. 
But,  according  to  the  new  treaty  they  would  be  some  sixty  miles 
off,  and  beyond  the  baneful  influences  of  their  present  contaminat- 
ing environs;  they  would  be  on  soil  that  offered  every  facility 
for  easy  and  successful  farming  by  which  to  make  an  honest 
living;  while  their  proximity  to  the  new  Mission  could  not  but 
benefit  them  in  many  other  respects. 

That  such  good  results  were  looked  forward  to  even  by  the 
officials  in  charge,  is  manifest  from  the  report  of  A.  O.  Simons, 
the  Agent,  who  under  date  of  August  26,  1890,  wrote  to  the 
Indian  Department  as  follows: 

"There  is  good  ground  for  hope  that  the  spiritual  and  moral 
teaching  of  the  Rev.  Fathers  at  St.  Paul's  Mission  will  in  time 
effect  great  good  in  eradicating  the  evils  of  immorality  and 
drunkenness  and  creating  a  conscientious  feeling  in  favor  of 
virtue  and  temperance."*  And  it  was  not  long  before  these 
forecasts  were  borne  out  by  the  result. 

In  the  meantime,  Father  Eberschweiler  had  been  hard  at  work 
to  erect  suitable  quarters  on  the  site  he  had  selected  for  the 
Mission.  He  commenced,  in  the  summer  of  1886,  the  construc- 
tion of  a  large  log  structure,  25  by  75  feet,  and  of  two  others, 
but  of  smaller  dimensions.  Having  spent  the  winter  of  1886-87 
at  Fort  Belknap,  he  returned  to  the  Little  Rockies,  where  the 
buildings  under  construction  were  soon  after  completed  and 
made  ready  for  occupancy.  But  while  busy  in  the  erection  of 
quarters,  Father  Eberschweiler  did  not  neglect  missionary  duty 
among  the  Indians,  and  by  the  end  of  1887  he  had  baptized  138 
children  under  seven,  and  twenty-one  adults.  Adding  to  the 
number  those  baptized  subsequently,  we  have  in  the  Mission's 
records  a  little  over  500  baptisms  at  the  close  of  1890. 

During  the  summer  of  1887  arrangements  were  made  with  the 

*  Report  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  1890. 


ST.  PAUL'S  MISSION  233 

Indian  Department,  through  the  Catholic  Indian  Mission  Bureau, 
for  the  opening  of  a  contract  school.  These  were  now  com- 
pleted by  the  arrival  of  a  colony  of  Ursulines,  who  were  to  assist 
the  Fathers  in  the  work.  The  school  opened  in  September  with 
an  allotment  of  twenty-five  pupils,  at  a  per  capita  of  $100  a  year. 
Subsequently,  this  number  was  raised  to  fifty,  then  to  one  hun- 
dred, and  later  on,  to  one  hundred  and  sixty  pupils.  Today  the 
number  in  attendance  is  in  excess  of  the  number  of  children 
provided  for  by  the  Government.  And  this  can  be  said  of  every 
Catholic  Indian  Contract  School;  since  in  every  one  of  them 
more  Indian  children  are  kept  and  educated  than  are  supported 
or  paid  for  by  the  Government. 

These  Indian  children  are  good-natured,  docile  and  quick  to 
learn;  but,  like  unto  all  the  rest  of  the  race,  a  second  nature  with 
them  is  laziness  and  a  deep  dislike  for  any  manual  labor.  Their 
training  is,  consequently,  made  to  suit  their  wants,  as  in  every 
other  Catholic  Indian  school,  and  consists  of  a  plain  English 
education  going  hand  in  hand  with  varied  manual  exercise. 

From  the  manuscript  records  of  St.  Paul's  Mission  and  its 
schools  we  glean  the  following  incidents.  We  have  no  doubt  that 
they  will  be  found  both  interesting  and  edifying. 

A  boy,  in  very  poor  health,  was  brought  to  the  school.  The 
Sisters  took  him  in,  and  tenderly  cared  for  him;  the  more  so, 
that  no  hope  could  any  longer  be  entertained  for  his  recovery. 
Some  two  months  after,  growing  worse,  he  was  made  happy  by 
being  baptized.  The  little  hero  bore  all  the  sufferings  of  his 
sickness  with  most  remarkable  patience.  He  would  hold  a  small 
crucifix  in  his  hands,  and  frequently  kiss  it  with  the  greatest 
affection.  On  being  anointed  he  seemed  to  be  comforted  beyond 
expression.  One  day  he  told  some  who  had  called  to  see  him, 
to  come  no  more,  as  with  their  coming,  "The  Angel  disappeared," 
quoth  the  boy;  adding,  "Do  you  not  see  him  leave  when  you 
come  in?"  He  further  spoke  as  follows:  "When  I  am  alone 
the  Angel  stays  by  my  side,  speaks  to  me,  and  makes  me  feel 
ever  so  happy !  He  bids  me  be  cheerful  and  tells  me  he  will  stay 
with  me  until  the  time  arrives  for  me  to  be  led  by  him  to  see 
God."  Our  little  Nicholas  (the  name  given  the  boy  in  baptism) 
was  taken  off  by  "his  good  Angel"  on  the  Feast  of  Our  Lady, 
the  Help  of  Christians. 


234        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

The  boy  had  just  been  buried,  when  one  of  the  youngest  of 
the  little  girls,  whose  name  was  Martha,  declared  that  she,  too, 
wished  and  longed  ever  so  much  to  die.  Her  wish  was  granted, 
and  she  passed  away  early  in  the  morning,  on  the  Feast  of  the 
Sacred  Heart. 

On  the  very  same  day,  Mary,  another  Indian  girl,  about  nine, 
and  seriously  ill,  was  admitted  to  her  first  Holy  Communion,  a 
favor  she  had  been  fervently  asking  for  a  good  while.  The 
Sisters  dressed  her  in  white  and  brought  her  to  the  chapel.  She 
received  our  Lord  with  an  Angel's  fervor,  and  so  wrapped  up 
was  she  in  her  devotion,  that  she  could  scarcely  be  induced  to 
consent  to  leave  the  chapel.  The  girl  had  been  at  school  at  St. 
Peter's  Mission,  but  all  along  in  feeble  and  failing  health.  Her 
recovery  being  now  despaired  of,  she  had  been  transferred  to 
St.  Paul's,  that  she  might  end  her  life  among  her  people.  Though 
but  nine,  she  had  the  sense  and  wisdom  of  a  much  riper  age. 
The  young  child  suffered  very  much,  yet  she  appeared  altogether 
unmindful  of  her  aches  and  pains,  her  whole  soul  being  taken 
up  with  holy  and  heavenly  things.  She  found  her  delight  in 
praying  and  in  arranging  a  number  of  holy  cards  in  a  semi- 
circle before  her  eyes,  that  she  might  see  them  all  at  a  glance. 
A  little  statue  of  Our  Lady  seemed  to  draw  her  attention  in  a 
most  special  manner:  she  would  often  and  lovingly  look  at  it, 
and  as  often  and  as  lovingly  press  it  to  her  heart.  To  have 
received  the  name  of  Mary  in  baptism  seemed  to  fill  her  soul 
with  the  greatest  joy.  There  was  no  need  of  any  cautious  pro- 
ceeding to  inform  her  of  her  approaching  dissolution,  since  she 
appeared  to  be  actually  in  love  with  death,  yearning  after  it  and 
speaking  of  it,  as  she  did,  with  the  greatest  pleasure. 

The  evening  before  her  death,  Mary  called  for  the  Father  and 
all  the  Sisters,  and  asked  them  to  pray  for  her,  as  her  hour,  she 
said,  was  near.  Death,  to  all  appearances,  was  in  her  eyes  and 
on  her  face,  when  the  little  girl  assumed,  all  of  a  sudden,  a  most 
beautiful  expression.  Her  gaze  was  slightly  turned  upward,  and 
she  seemed  as  if  absorbed  in  the  vision  of  some  entrancing 
beauty ;  reflected  in  the  brilliancy  of  her  eyes  and  on  her  counte- 
nance, now  all  aglow  with  inexpressible  joy.  While  thus  enrap- 
tured, the  little  girl  exclaimed:  "Oh!  .  .  .  Oh!  .  .  . 
Oh!     .     .     .     Mary!    You  have  come  with  Angels  to  take  me 


ST.  PAUL'S  MISSION  235 

with  you!  Oh,  how  good!  Oh,  how  beautiful  you  are!  Oh, 
how  happy  I  am!"  The  bystanders,  Father,  Sisters  and  all  were 
silent  listeners.  The  girl  remained  in  an  almost  ecstatic  state 
a  quarter  of  an  hour,  and  then  fell  quietly  asleep.  The  next 
day,  when  her  last  moments  had  arrived,  she  called  again  for 
all,  asked  them  to  pray  for  her,  and  placing  herself  in  a  most 
devout  position  to  die,  at  high  noon  July  4th,  her  happy  soul 
went  to  her  God.  Soon  after  her  death,  her  parents  asked  for 
instruction  and  were  baptized. 

And  now,  nothing  remains  but  to  bring  the  Mission's  history 
to  a  close  by  chronicling  the  changes  that  have  since  occurred. 
Father  Balthasar  Feusi  replaces  Father  Eberschweiler  in  the 
charge  of  the  institution,  being  assisted  by  Father  Francis  San- 
sone  and  a  lay  brother.  New  and  substantial  improvements  are, 
not  only  contemplated,  but  already  under  contract. 

Father  Eberschweiler  has  moved  to  Harlem,  a  station  on  the 
Great  Northern  Railway,  whence  he  attends  the  Assiniboines  at 
Fort  Peck  Agency,  and  several  settlements  of  whites  along  the 
road,  as  well  as  some  camps  of  halfbreeds  on  the  banks  of  Milk 
River.  The  Harlem  station  is  a  dependency  of  St.  Peter's 
Mission. 

As  mentioned  above,  Father  B.  Feusi  took  charge  of  the  Mis- 
sion in  1 89 1,  replacing  Father  Eberschweiler,  and  held  it  till 
1894,  when  Father  Charles  Mackin  became  the  local  Superior. 
During  his  term,  which  extended  to  1902,  the  latter  built  a  fine 
stone  church,  and  replaced  the  former  log  building  occupied  by 
the  Sisters  and  the  girls'  school,  with  a  new  and  imposing  struc- 
ture also  of  stone.  The  unstinted  generosity  of  a  personal  friend, 
no  less  rich  than  grateful,  enabled  him  to  start  and  bring  to 
completion  these  substantial  improvements.  He  was  succeeded 
in  the  charge  of  the  Mission  by  Father  Ignatius  A.  Vasta,  who 
some  five  years  later  left  it  in  the  hands  of  Father  Joseph  M. 
Piet.  Father  H.  J.  Vrebosch  came  next,  and  after  him,  Father 
Hubert  Post,  who  in  turn  was  succeeded  by  Father  B.  Feusi. 

Leaving  St.  Paul's,  let  us  now  proceed  to  the  Mission  of  St. 
Labre,  whose  history  we  shall  present  in  the  following  chapter. 


Chapter  XXXII. 

MISSION  OF  ST.  LABRE  AMONG  THE  CHEYENNE  INDIANS.      ORIGIN. 

THE  URSULINES.      CHEYENNE  ELOQUENCE.      FR.   P.   BARCELO. 

GEORGE  YOAKUM.      SCHOOLS.      FR.  A.  VAN  DER  VELDEN. 

PASSING  from  Northern  to  Eastern  Montana,  the  Mission 
that  now  invites  our  attention  is  St.  Labre,  located  on  the 
banks  of  the  Tongue  River,  near  the  mouth  of  Otter  Creek, 
some  seventy-five  miles  south  of  Miles  City,  Custer  County. 

The  Indians  occupying  this  section  are  a  small  fraction  of 
the  Northern  Cheyennes,  and  number  about  a  thousand  souls. 
They  live  grouped  in  small  camps  or  villages  in  the  Upper 
Tongue  River  country  along  the  Rosebud.  Until  1885  these 
Indians  had  no  reservation  of  their  own.  About  this  time  the 
Government  set  apart  for  them  a  reserve  on  the  banks  of  Lame 
Deer  and  Muddy  Creek.  But  they  refused  to  leave  their  home 
on  Tongue  River  for  the  new  place. 

Father  De  Smet  was  the  first  to  Christianize  any  of  the  tribe. 
There  are  Cheyennes  still  living  who  remember  the  great  Black 
Robe,  and  take  a  pardonable  pride  in  the  fact  that  they  were 
baptized  by  him.  But  until  1882,  little  was  done  in  their  behalf, 
although  they  never  ceased  to  ask  for  Catholic  missionaries. 

A  discharged  soldier  from  Fort  Keogh,  a  convert  to  the  faith, 
by  name  of  George  Yoakum,  having  frequently  met  Indians 
about  the  Fort,  became  interested  in  their  welfare.  He  brought 
their  case  to  the  attention  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  James  O'Connor, 
the  Vicar  Apostolic  of  Nebraska,  to  whose  jurisdiction  Eastern 
Montana  still  belonged.  The  zealous  Bishop  wrote  to  the 
Jesuit  Fathers  at  Helena  and  to  the  general  Superior  of  the 
Indian  Missions  in  our  Territory,  warmly  recommending  these 
poor,  forsaken  Indians  to  their  care.  He  displayed  great  pity 
for  them,  and  desired  the  Fathers  to  do  all  they  could  in  their 
behalf.  Accordingly,  Father  P.  Barcelo,  who  was  stationed 
at  Helena,  at  the  wish  of  his  Superior  visited  the  Cheyennes 
in  1882-83  and  spent  among  them  several  months.    The  opening, 


MISSION  OF  ST.  LABRE  237 

however,  of  a  permanent  Mission  could  not  be  attempted  through 
lack  of  men. 

In  1883  the  Rt.  Rev.  J.  B.  Brondel  was  appointed  to  the 
spiritual  charge  of  the  whole  of  Montana,  and  how  to  provide 
missionaries  for  the  Cheyennes  was  one  of  his  first  cares.  He 
made  an  appeal  to  his  confreres  in  the  States,  to  secure  through 
them  the  services  of  a  zealous  priest  and  a  colony  of  Sisters 
for  that  purpose.  On  receiving  Bishop  Brondel's  appeal,  the 
Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Gilmour,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  invited  the 
Religious  Communities  of  his  Diocese  to  answer  the  call  from 
Montana.  Bishop  Gilmour's  invitation  reached  the  Ursulines 
on  the  Eve  of  St.  Ursula,  October  20,  1883,  and  thirty  of  the 
Community  sent  in  their  names  as  volunteers  for  the  Cheyenne 
Mission. 

One  who  is  at  all  conversant  with  the  history  of  the  time- 
honored  and  devoted  Ursuline  Sisterhood  will  not  be  surprised 
at  this  generous  response.  The  Ursulines  were  the  first  among 
Religious  women  to  establish  themselves  in  the  northern  parts 
of  North  America.  At  the  close  of  the  17th  century  there 
were  in  Canada  but  six  Religious  Communities  of  women  and 
two  of  these,  the  House  at  Quebec,  established  in  1639,  and 
that  at  Three  Rivers,  established  in  1690,  belonged  to  this  Order. 
In  the  United  States,  New  Orleans,  Louisiana,  was  the  first 
city  to  obtain  a  Community  of  Ursulines,  a  Convent  of  the 
Order  having  been  founded  there  in  1727.  De  Courcy  observes 
that  until  1790,  the  United  States  did  not  know  what  Nuns 
were,  as  Louisiana  had  not  yet  become  a  part  of  the  United 
States,  but  was  still  a  French  colony. 

Subsequently,  the  Order  spread  to  several  States  of  the  Union ; 
in  Ohio,  the  Ursulines  had  flourishing  Convents  and  schools 
at  St.  Martin's,  near  Fayetteville,  at  Cleveland  and  Toledo, 
whence  they  were  now  to  branch  out  into  the  far  Northwest. 
Pioneer  life  in  unsettled  communities,  missionary  life  among 
the  Indians,  with  all  the  privations  inseparable  from  it,  was 
no  new  experience  for  the  members  of  this  veteran  Order,  and 
had  no  terrors  for  them. 

As  many  more  Nuns  had  volunteered  than  there  was 
immediate  need  for,  of  the  thirty  who  had  offered  themselves 
Bishop  Gilmour  chose  six,  all  Americans  by  birth,  natives  of 


238        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

Ohio.  On  Christmas  morning  he  wrote  to  his  confrere,  Bishop 
Brondel,  announcing  the  Christmas  present  he  was  sending  to 
Montana.  The  Rev.  Jos.  Eyler,  of  the  Cleveland  Diocese,  had  also 
accepted  the  invitation  and  was  ready  to  accompany  the  mis- 
sionary colony  to  the  new  field.  With  Mother  Amadeus  at 
the  head,  the  little  band  of  Ursulines  left  Toledo  on  the  15th 
of  January,  1884,  and  journeying  through  Chicago,  St.  Paul 
and  Bismark,  arrived  at  Miles  City  on  the  17th,  a  couple  of 
days  after  bidding  farewell  to  their  home  in  Ohio. 

It  became  known  that  the  Sisters  who  were  to  locate  at  Miles 
City  and  among  the  Cheyennes,  would  arrive  on  that  day,  and 
train-time  brought  to  the  depot  most  of  the  population  of  the 
"wicked  little  city  of  Montana,"  the  unenviable  name  the  place 
had  acquired  in  some  of  the  Eastern  States.  The  white  and 
the  Indian,  soldier  and  civilian,  the  cattle-king  and  the  cowboy, 
the  miner  and  the  gambler,  all  classes  of  the  town's  inhabitants 
were  represented. 

Bishop  Brondel  had  come  all  the  way  from  Helena  to  receive 
in  person  the  Christmas  gift  sent  him  by  Bishop  Gilmour,  and 
stood  on  the  platform,  with  the  Rev.  E.  W.  J.  Lindesmith,  Army 
Chaplain  at  Fort  Keogh.  There,  his  arms  outstretched  and 
his  face  beaming  with  joy,  he  greeted  the  travelers,  and  bade 
one  and  all  a  hearty  welcome  to  Montana. 

The  first  plan  of  the  Ursulines  was  to  establish  a  central 
Mission  and  their  Motherhouse  at  Miles  City,  whence  small 
bands  would  go  forth  to  open  schools  among  the  different 
Indian  tribes  in  Montana,  beginning  with  the  Cheyennes  on 
Tongue  River.  The  founding,  however,  of  schools  later  on 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  State  made  it  desirable  to  have  their 
Motherhouse  more  centrally  located,  and  owing  to  this  as  well 
as  for  other  reasons,  it  was  finally  built  at  the  Mission  of 
St.  Peter. 

On  their  arrival  at  Miles  City,  Bishop  Brondel  made  arrange- 
ments for  the  erection  of  suitable  buildings  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  the  new  Community.  In  the  meanwhile  the  Nuns  opened 
a  temporary  school  in  humble  quarters,  which  were  secured  at 
a  monthly  rental  of  twenty-five  dollars. 

The  Rev.  J.  Eyler  now  started  for  the  Cheyenne  country,  to 
look  over  the  situation  and  select  a  convenient  site  for  the  new 


MISSION  OF  ST.  LABRE  239 

Mission.  A  piece  of  land,  with  a  log  cabin  on  it,  was  bought  just 
where  Otter  Creek  empties  into  the  Tongue  River,  the  spot 
being  considered  best  suited  for  the  new  institution. 

Sometime  after,  three  of  the  Ursulines,  accompanied  by 
Mother  Amadeus  who  went  along  to  see  the  little  colony  safely 
installed  in  their  new  home,  set  out  to  join  Father  Eyler.  They 
left  Miles  City  March  29,  and  camped  four  nights  on  the  road. 
A  Sibley  tent  and  army  transportation,  consisting  of  a  Govern- 
ment ambulance  for  the  Sisters,  two  wagons  for  their  baggage 
and  provisions,  as  well  as  an  escort  of  a  few  soldiers,  had  been 
kindly  furnished  by  the  Commanding  Officer  of  Fort  Keogh. 
The  roads  were  bad  and  the  difficulties  of  the  journey  corre- 
spondingly great.  The  good  Sisters,  however,  acquired  some 
excellent  experimental  knowledge.  Up  and  down  steep  gulches, 
through  deep  ravines,  over  high,  forbidding  bluffs,  and  along 
the  edge  of  precipitous  embankments — their  road  was  cer- 
tainly a  rough  one.  They  learned  what  are  the  realities  of 
fording  streams,  cutting  wagon  trails  through  clay,  making 
bridges  over  swamps  and  treacherous  quicksands.  Many  times 
the  soldiers  were  obliged  to  unload  the  entire  outfit  and  carry 
the  baggage  across  troublesome  places.  Yet,  we  are  assured, 
there  was  not  a  profane  word,  not  a  murmur  of  complaint  uttered. 

The  caravan  was  met  by  Father  Eyler  some  seven  miles 
from  the  Mission  site,  and  reached  their  destination  at  noon  on 
the  second  day  of  April.  These  brave  missionary  Sisters  greeted 
their  new  home  with  sincere  delight,  and  kneeling  on  the 
threshold  of  the  cabin,  reverently  kissed  the  ground,  as  that 
of  the  promised  Land,  and  poured  forth  their  souls  in  silent, 
but  deep,  heartfelt  thanksgiving.  Their  dwelling,  a  log  hut 
with  a  mud  roof,  had  three  compartments  or  rooms,  uncon- 
nected within  by  any  opening,  the  entrance  to  each  being  from 
the  outside.  The  rooms  were  lighted  each  by  half  a  window 
— and  a  very  small  window  at  that — and  two  of  them  were 
without  flooring. 

The  largest  room,  about  16  by  22  feet,  was  made  the  Nuns' 
apartment.  It  had  a  floor,  and  the  walls  were  well  papered 
over  with  copies  of  the  "Police  Gazette" !  The  middle  com- 
partment was  converted  into  a  class-room;  while  Father  Eyler's 
quarters  were  at  the  other  end  of  the  cabin.     Some  cowboy's 


240        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

benches  and  dry-goods  boxes  answered  the  purpose  of  chairs 
and  tables,  and  were  all  the  furniture  on  the  premises.  The 
Nuns'  apartment  was  at  one  and  the  same  time,  chapel,  kitchen 
and  dormitory. 

The  Ursulines  set  to  work  and  soon  had  the  place  scrubbed, 
and  in  good  order.  In  one  corner  of  their  quarters  an  altar  was 
erected,  and  there  on  the  next  morning,  April  3,  the  Feast  of 
St.  Richard,  the  patron  Saint  of  Bishop  Gilmour,  Father  Eyler 
celebrated  the  first  Mass. 

The  poverty  of  the  Indians  and  all  their  surroundings  had 
suggested  to  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Brondel  a  very  appropriate  name 
for  the  Cheyenne  Mission ;  it  was  to  be  called  St.  Joseph  Labre, 
after  the  poorest  of  God's  poor.  The  original  log  cabin  was 
in  time  replaced  by  a  large,  comfortable  frame  structure.  Its 
cost  was  considerable,  as  all  the  building  material  had  to  be 
hauled  by  team  a  distance  of  seventy  and  more  miles. 

The  Cheyennes  welcomed  the  "Lady  Black  Robes"  with  great 
joy,  and  their  coming  had  been  celebrated  the  night  before  their 
arrival,  in  true  Indian  fashion,  by  a  glorious  war  dance.* 

The  refusal  to  abandon  their  homes  on  Tongue  River — a 
section  much  coveted  by  stockmen  who  had  large  herds  of 
cattle  in  the  neighboring  ranges — brought  upon  the  Cheyennes 
much  trouble  and  suffering.  They  were  continually  harassed 
by  cowboys  who  wanted  them  out  of  their  way.  They  were 
also  unjustly  treated  by  the  Indian  Agents,  who  refused  them 
their  fair  proportion  of  rations,  because  they  would  not  move 
to  the  Rosebud  reservation.  The  buffalo  had  practically  been 
exterminated  and,  as  a  consequence  of  all  this,  the  poor  wretches 
were  in  such  dire  distress,  that  some  of  them  had  actually  died 
of  starvation.  The  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Brondel  visited  their  set- 
element  in  August,  1884,  and  again  in  November  of  the  following 
year,  and  saw  with  his  own  eyes  the  extreme  destitution  of 
these  unfortunate  creatures. 

"We  are  glad  to  see  you,"  said  they  to  the  Bishop  on  the 
latter  occasion :  "You  speak  the  truth.  You  have  not  many 
tongues.     Your  language  is  right.     Last  winter   four  of  our 

*  The  particulars  concerning  their  coming  to  Montana,  etc.,  given  in  this 
part  of  the  narrative,  were  kindly  communicated  to  the  writer  by  the  Ursu- 
lines themselves. 


MISSION  OF  ST.  LAB  RE  241 

women  died  of  hunger;  this  winter  we  shall  all  die.  You  told 
us  to  cultivate  the  land,  but  we  have  no  tools.  We  used  to 
live  on  the  buffalo;  all  the  buffalo  are  now  exterminated,  and 
last  winter  all  the  antelope  were  killed.  Some  of  us  had  cattle, 
but  they  were  stolen  from  us.  We  cannot  farm,  we  get  no 
rations,  or  if  we  do,  we  cannot  live  on  the  little  we  get;  we 
cannot  steal,  and  in  consequence  we  must  all  die.  Winter  is 
coming  and  we  have  no  blankets.  Tell  the  Great  Father  at 
Washington,  we  need  help  right  away  and  have  no  means  to 
cultivate  the  soil.  This  is  our  country,  we  fought  against  the 
Sioux  and  the  Crows  to  keep  this  place  and  hold  it.  We  fought 
for  the  whites  against  the  Sioux,  the  Bannacks  and  the  Nez 
Perces,  and  now,  the  whites  want  us  to  leave,  and  go  where 
there  is  no  good  land,  where  there  is  little  wood,  little  water, 
and  where  we  do  not  care  to  live,  with  Indians  whom  we  do 
not  like." 

This  strong  pleading  was  given  emphasis  by  the  pressure  of 
two  young  men  standing  before  the  Bishop,  one  of  whom  had 
passed  two  days,  and  the  other  four,  without  a  bite  to  eat. 
The  Bishop,  moved  with  compassion,  ordered  a  steer  to  be 
purchased  and  butchered  at  once,  to  feed  the  famishing  people. 
'On  his  return  to  Helena,  he  laid  their  pitiful  case  before  His 
Excellency  Governor  S.  T.  Hauser,  through  whose  prompt 
action  orders  were  issued  from  Washington  for  their  immediate 
relief.  What,  if  in  their  maddening  hunger  and  with  death 
from  starvation  facing  them,  these  poor  creatures  did  kill,  as 
has  been  charged  against  them,  a  beef  or  two?  Can  we  blame 
them? 

The  following  communication  of  Bishop  Brondel  to  Governor 
S.  T.  Hauser  will  throw  additional  light  on  our  narrative: 

To  His  Excellency  S.  T.  Hauser, 
Governor  of  Montana, 
Helena,  M.  T. 
Dear  Sir: — 

At  my  return  from  a  visit  to  the  Cheyenne  Indians  on  Tongue 
River  at  the  mouth  of  Otter  Creek,  Custer  Co.,  M.  T.,  I  feel  it  my 
duty  to  communicate  to  Your  Excellency  the  condition  of  these 
wards  of  the  Government. 

Two  years  ago  I  established  a  Catholic  Mission  at  that  place,  and 
in  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  mentioned  my  reason  for 


242        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

doing  so,  namely,  because  most  Cheyennes  are  living  on  Tongue 
River.  A  priest  and  three  Ursuline  Nuns  went  to  live  on  a  farm 
which  I  bought  in  that  locality.  In  a  visit  last  fall,  I  learned  that 
the  Cheyennes  wanted  an  Agent,  reservation  food,  clothing  and  farm- 
ing utensils.  I  made  their  wishes  known  to  the  proper  authorities, 
and  a  reservation  was  made  in  the  vicinity  of  Rosebud,  but  no  regular 
Agent  was  appointed ;  also  that  part,  where  our  Mission  was  estab- 
lished, was  left  out  of  the  limits  of  the  reservation.  The  Cheyennes 
of  Tongue  River  had  fought  their  way  back  from  the  Indian  Ter- 
ritory. Pursued  by  General  Miles,  they  stopped  when  they  reached 
their  former  home  and  told  the  General  that  he  might  kill  them  there, 
but  that  they  would  not  live  elsewhere.  Miles  told  them  to  remain, 
and  that  they  would  not  be  interfered  with.  They  served  as  scouts 
in  the  Sioux,  Nez  Perces  and  Bannack  wars.  They  say  they  fought 
other  Indians  to  keep  their  land  on  Tongue  River  and  will  not  go  to 
Rosebud  where  rations  are  now  distributed,  because  that  is  not  their 
land  and  it  is  a  poor  place.  They  do  not  want  to  live  with  the  Rose- 
bud Indians  because  they  are  bad.  They  do  not  want  to  live  at 
other  Agencies  because  they  are  a  distinct  people  from  the  Sioux, 
Crows  and  others.  The  buffaloes  were  killed  long  ago,  all  the  ante- 
lopes were  killed  last  winter,  the  whites  stole  their  horses  and  cattle, 
the  Government  does  not  defend  them,  they  do  not  want  to  steal 
and  hence  they  say :  this  winter  we  shall  all  die.  The  clerk  of  the 
Agent  of  the  Crows,  who  distributes  rations  on  the  Rosebud,  refuses 
to  help  us,  or  we  get  so  little  that  we  cannot  live. 

All  the  Cheyennes  send  their  children  to  the  Mission  schools.  The 
Sisters  of  St.  Labre's  Mission  have  a  contract  with  the  Government 
for  thirty  children.  I  have  established  that  Mission  at  an  expense 
of  about  ten  thousand  dollars.  During  my  visit  last  week  I  saw  that 
those  Indians  had  no  blankets,  or  if  they  had,  the  blankets  were  old 
and  used  up.  One  fine  young  man  told  me  he  had  nothing  to  eat 
for  four  days,  another  had  not  for  two  days,  and  the  testimony  of 
the  Sisters  and  the  priests  in  charge  confirm  the  truth  of  these 
assertions.  I  was  so  moved  by  pity  that  I  bought  a  steer  for  sixty 
dollars  from  the  Postmaster  at  Birney  six  miles  off  and  distributed 
the  meat  to  twenty-nine  lodges  so  as  to  retard  starvation.  The 
Indians  told  me  that  last  winter  four  women  died  of  starvation,  and 
this  winter  they  say  they  shall  all  die,  for  they  have  nothing  any 
longer  to  hunt,  and  they  could  not  raise  a  crop  for  want  of  farming 
implements ;  neither  could  they  go  to  beg  at  other  Agencies,  for  they 
have  no  horses  to  go,  and  should  they  go,  they  are  sent  away  from 
one  Agency  to  the  other. 

In  the  name,  then,  of  our  common  humanity,  in  the  name  of 


MISSION  OF  ST.  LABRE  243 

Indians  who  have  fought  other  Indians  to  secure  to  our  white  popu- 
lation peace  and  plenty,  I  appeal  to  your  Excellency  to  secure  to 
them  certainty  of  tenure  of  their  lands,  the  appointment  of  an  Agent 
who  would  protect  them  and  secure  their  interest,  helping  them  to 
farm  next  spring,  and  the  immediate  dispatch  of  food  and  clothing. 
Procrastination  in  this  matter  is  death  to  fellow  human  beings,  and 
a  telegraphic  message  to  Washington  concerning  the.  matter  would, 
in  my  humble  opinion,  be  a  necessity.  .  .  .  From  all  that  I 
have  seen  and  heard,  I  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Cheyennes 
are  of  the  bravest,  most  honest,  most  laborious  and  the  least  cor- 
rupted of  our  American  Indians. 

No  sooner  had  Governor  Hauser  received  Bishop  Brondel's 
appeal  than  he  wired  the  following  to  the  Hon.  Secretary  of 
the  Interior: 

Executive  Department, 

Territory  of  Montana.. 

Helena,  M.  T.,  Nov.  14,  1885. 
Hon.  L.  Q.  C.  Lamar, 
Secretary  of  Interior, 
Washington,  D.  C. 
Bishop  Brondel,  founder  of  the  Mission  on  Tongue  River,  has  just 
returned  from  the  Mission  and  reports  that  the  Cheyenne  Indians 
there  are  in  a  starving  condition — I  forward  his  statement  by  mail 
today.     I   respectfully   recommend   that   you  take  some  immediate 
action  in  the  matter. 

(Signed)     S.  T.  Hauser. 

The  Hon.  Secretary  of  the  Interior  answered  by  telegraph 
as  follows : 

Washington,  D.  C,  Nov.  16th,  1885. 
Governor  Hauser, 
Helena,  Mont. 
Commissioner  Sparks  has  this  day  instructed  the  Agent  to  provide 
for  immediate  wants  of  the  Tongue  River  Indians — Inspector  Arm- 
strong now  at  the  Crow  Agency  has  been  instructed  to  see  that  it 
is  done  and  to  report  the  fact. 

(Signed)     L.  Q.  C.  Lamar,  Secy. 

Bishop  Brondel  sought  to  enlist  the  good  services  and 
influence  of  the  Hon.  G.  G.  Vest,  U.  S.  Senator,  in  behalf  of 
the  Cheyennes  on  Tongue  River,  for  the  specific  purpose  that 
the  land  on  which  they  had  settled  might  be  secured  to  them 


244        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

by  the  Government,  and  that  also  the  allowance  for  their  school 
might  be  continued  and  increased.  The  interest  taken  in  the 
matter  by  the  Hon.  Senator  appears  from  the  following  letter 
which  he  sent  to  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop : 

United  States  Senate, 
Washington,  D.  C,  December  22,   1885. 
My  dear  Sir: 

I  am  just  in  receipt  of  your  favor  of  the  16th  instant. 
Governor  Hauser  is  now  in  this  city,  and  I  was  with  him  when  he 
presented  your  letter  in  regard  to  the  Tongue  River  Indians  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

It  will  afford  me  very  great  pleasure  to  do  what  I  can  in  the 
direction  indicated  in  your  letter.  I  will  see  the  Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs  tomorrow  and  represent  the  case  to  him  in  person. 
I  do  not  know  that  I  can  do  anything  towards  increasing  the  amount 
of  pay  for  the  tuition  at  St.  Labre's  or  at  St.  Peter's,  for  the  Black- 
feet,  but  I  will  try  to  have  sufficient  appropriations  put  in  the  legis- 
lation of  Congress  this  session. 

You  may  rest  assured  that  I  will  do  everything  in  my  power,  as  I 
take  great  interest  in  those  Indian  schools. 

I  am  respectfully  and  truly, 

Your  friend, 
G.  G.  Vest. 
Bishop  John  B.  Brondel, 

Helena,  Montana. 


Chapter  XXXII. 
ST.  labre's  mission. 

From  what  has  been  said  above,  the  reader  must  have  already 
surmised  that  the  locating  of  the  Mission  on  Tongue  River, 
tending  naturally  as  it  did  to  establish  the  Cheyennes  on  a 
section  whence  the  whites  wanted  them  removed,  was  not  looked 
upon  with  favor  by  the  cattle  owners,  whose  large  herds  were 
fattening  on  these  ranges. 

This  was  made  clear  by  an  outrageous  deed  perpetrated  at 
St.  Labre's  September  15,  1884,  and  even  more,  by  the  com- 
ments which  were  made  upon  it  by  the  Miles  City  Daily  Journal 
in  its  issue  of  September  18. 

George  Yoakum,  whom  we  have  already  mentioned  as  taking 
much  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  Indians,  was  at  the  time 
the  guest  of  Father  Barcelo,  and  the  Father's  interpreter.  On 
the  night  of  the  15th,  five  masked  men  invaded  the  Father's 
cabin  and,  laying  hold  of  Yoakum,  bound  him  and  dragged 
him  out  to  "yank"  him.  Father  Barcelo  remonstrated,  and 
entreated  the  ruffians  to  refrain  from  their  criminal  proceedings. 
But  to  no  purpose:  he  too  was  threatened  with  the  same  treat- 
ment; and  pointing  a  revolver  at  his  head,  they  forced  him 
to  keep  back  and  cease  from  further  pleading.  Still,  who 
knows  but  the  saintly  man's  expostulations  and  tears  saved 
Yoakum's  life?  The  poor  fellow  was  carried  some  distance 
off  and  "yanked,"  as  the  Miles  City  Journal  put  it,  and  then 
ordered  out  of  the  country. 

The  same  journal  had  this  to  say  of  the  outrage: — 

Yoakum  has  been  acting  as  interpreter  for  the  Mission,  but  at 
the  same  time  making  himself  very  officious  in  matters  concerning 
the  Indians,  who,  under  his  supposed  advice,  have  been  giving  much 
trouble  and  annoyance  to  settlers  and  stockmen  in  the  vicinity.  Prob- 
ably this  summary  punishment  may  bring  him  to  his  senses  and 
teach  him  not  to  espouse  the  cause  of  the  Indians  as  against  the 
white  settlers  and  cattleman  who  are  developing  the  country.     There 


246        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

is  no  trouble  apprehended  from  the  Indians — continues  the  paper. — 
In  fact,  the  cattlemen  would  rather  rejoice  at  an  opportunity  to 
inaugurate  an  open  armed  resistance  against  them  and  drive  them 
from  the  country. 

The  italics  are  ours.  This  modus  operandi,  this  goading  the 
Indians  on  to  some  act  of  hostility,  in  order  to  have  an  excuse 
for  getting  rid  of  them  the  sooner,  has  been  but  too  often  the 
favorite  method  of  the  frontier  man,  "to  develop  the  country." 
Yet  the  Cheyennes  in  the  testimony  of  all  who  are  acquainted 
with  them,  are  a  brave  people,  upright,  honorable,  of  remarkably 
good  morals  and  exceptionally  free  from  the  curses  of  their 
fellow  Indians — fire-water,  immorality  and  gambling.  Father 
Barcelo  relates  that  while  he  was  at  St.  Labre's,  some  depraved 
cowboys  attempted  one  day  to  force  a  Cheyenne  woman  to 
take  a  drink  of  whiskey,  holding  a  pistol  to  her  face  to  make 
her  do  it.  They  failed,  and  the  woman's  heroic  firmness 
cowed  the  villains.  "The  northern  Cheyennes,"  says  R.  L. 
Upshaw,  who  is  in  charge  of  these  Indians  as  Agent,  "are 
proverbial  for  the  chastity  of  their  women."  The  same  favor- 
able testimony  is  given  them  by  all  who  have  come  in  contact 
with  the  tribe. 

It  is  therefore  a  matter  of  no  little  surprise  that,  notwith- 
standing the  natural  virtues,  so  few  of  these  Indians  have,  thus 
far,  embraced  the  faith.  The  records  of  the  Mission  from  its 
start  to  the  end  of  1890,  give  but  200  baptisms,  and  those 
mostly  of  children. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  successful  missionary 
work  among  the  Indians,  owing  to  the  many  and  most  serious 
obstacles  in  the  way,  is  always  exceedingly  slow.  The  seeding 
and  reaping  seasons  here  are  not  spanned  by  a  few  months, 
but  a  lifetime;  and  one  who  sows,  despite  his  lengthy  years, 
may  not  live  long  enough  to  see  the  real  fruit  of  his  labors. 
"Faith  cometh  by  hearing,"  and  it  takes  many  a  year  to  master  an 
Indian  language,  and  this,  particularly,  when  it  must  be  learned 
without  any  other  assistance  than  that  obtainable  through  some 
uneducated  frontier  man,  or  some  half-breed,  as  is  nearly  always 
the  case. 

Besides  these  and  other  serious  difficulties  attendant  upon 
a  new  Indian  Mission,  special  ones  stood  in  the  way  of  St. 
Labre.     The  secular  clergy  who  were  assigned  to  its  charge, 


Mother  Amadeus 


Mother  Perpetua 


NOBLE    URSULINES 


ONE    THE    FOUNDRESS    OF    MONTANA    MISSIONS  ; 
THE   OTHER  A   REBUILDER 


ST.  LABRE'S  MISSION  247 

did  not  remain  on  the  field,  either  because  of  poor  health,  or 
of  discouragement.  The  unsettled  state  also,  as  well  as  the 
utter  destitution  of  these  Indians,  proved  an  obstacle  to  their 
instruction.  "We  are  starving,"  the  poor  creatures  would  say 
time  and  again  to  the  priest,  "and  the  howlings  of  our  hungry 
stomachs  deafen  our  ears  to  thy  voice;  give  us  something  to 
eat,  that  we  may  be  able  to  hearken  to  thee."  Indian  or  white, 
hungry  people's  minds  are  seldom  sensible  and  docile  to  aught 
but  the  pleadings  of  their  empty  stomachs.  Our  Divine  Saviour 
knew  it  well,  and  made  miracles  to  feed  His  hearers.  The  old 
monk's  Italian  ditty — Buona  piattama,  buona  osservanza — that 
is,  good  fare,  good  discipline,  is  another  expression  of  the  same 

philosophy. 

We  are  tempted  to  offer  an  additional  reason  why,  perhaps, 
so  few  Cheyennes  have  thus  far  been  converted,  but  we  suggest 
it  with  all  reserve.  May  not  theirs  be  one  of  the  cases  wherein 
et  snos  castos  habet  diabolus,  and  the  defilements  of  the  flesh 
are  avoided  through  a  spirit  of  pride?  Despite  their  natural 
goodness  and  commendable  moral  standing,  these  Indians  are 
known  to  be  a  very  presumptuous  race,  the  proudest  of  the 
Indian  tribes,  wrapped  up  in  the  consciousness  of  their  superiority 
over  their  fellows.  Now,  we  learn  from  Holy  Writ,  that  God 
in  His  inscrutable  and  mysterious  dealings  with  men,  gives 
His  grace  to  the  humble,  while  He  refuses  it  to  the  proud. 
Our  Divine  Saviour  has  exemplified  this  in  a  most  striking 
manner  in  the  Parable  of  the  Pharisee  and  the  Publican.  The 
latter,  because  humble,  finds  grace,  notwithstanding  his  sinful- 
ness; while  the  former,  with  all  his  goodness,  fails  to  do  so, 
and  is  rejected,  because  of  his  pride. 

Another  noticeable  trait  of  the  Cheyennes  is  their  gift  of 
speech;  for  they  likely  surpass  every  other  tribe  in  natural 
eloquence  and  poetical  imagery  and  the  vividness  with  which 
they  can  express  their  thoughts.  On  one  of  his  visits  to  St. 
Labre,  Bishop  Brondel  was  welcomed  by  one  of  the  head  men 
of  the  nation  who  goes  by  the  name  of  Old  Wolf.  We  reproduce 
the  old  chief's  address,  as  taken  down  by  the  Bishop  himself 
while  it  was  spoken,  every  word  being  interpreted  to  him  by 
one  of  the  Missionaries. 


248        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

Said  Old  Wolf: 

There  is  a  mountain  in  this  vicinity  known  by  every  Cheyenne. 
The  mountain  is  high  and  strong  and  many  years  old.  Our  fore- 
fathers knew  him,  as  well  as  we  do.  When  children,  we  went  out 
hunting,  and  cared  not  whether  we  knew  or  not  the  way.  When  men, 
we  went  out  to  meet  our  foes,  no  matter  where  they  came  from. 
Though  the  way  ran  high  up  and  low  down,  our  hearts  trembled  not 
on  account  of  the  road ;  because  the  mountain  was  ever  a  safe  guide 
to  us  and  never  failed  us.  When  far  away,  on  seeing  him  our 
hearts  leaped  for  joy,  because  the  mountain  was  the  beacon  which 
told  us  that  our  home  came  nearer.  In  summer  the  thunder  shook 
him  from  head  to  foot  and  fire  bored  holes  in  his  sides.  But  the 
noise  soon  passed  away  and  the  mountain  stood  there.  In  winter 
the  storms  rushed  around  him  to  bury  him  out  of  our  sight  and 
covered  him  with  layer  upon  layer  of  snow ;  with  difficulty  could 
we  distinguish  him  from  the  rest.  Only  his  height  told  us  he  was 
our  mountain.  But  during  the  spring  all  the  snow  disappeared  and 
the  mountain,  covered  with  green  grass,  stood  before  us  as  of  yore 
and  the  trees  upon  it  stood  firmer.  This  mountain  is  the  priest  of 
God.  White  and  Indian  speak  evil  of  him;  they  want  to  estrange 
him  from  our  hearts,  but  we  know  he  has  but  one  word  and  his 
heart  is  as  firm  as  a  rock.  He  comes  to  instruct  us,  and  what  the 
mountain  is  in  our  journeys,  that  is  his  word.  He  is  the  mountain 
that  leads  us  to  God. 

The  Rev.  J.  Eyler,  owing  to  poor  health,  returned  to  his 
Diocese  in  June,  and  for  a  little  over  a  year  from  his  departure, 
St.  Labre  remained  without  a  resident  priest.  It  was  visited 
during-  this  interval  by  Father  Barcelo  and  also  by  Father 
Guidi,  principally,  however,  by  the  former,  who  spent  there 
several  months.  The  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  himself  had  been  there 
in  August,  1884,  and  revisited  the  place  in  February,  1885. 
To  the  heroic  little  band  of  Ursulines,  who  bravely  remained 
at  their  lonesome  and  dreary  post,  these  occasional  visits  were 
so  much  spiritual  sunshine  and  a  source  of  inestimable  comfort. 
But  yet,  the  long  intervals  of  desolation  between  could  not 
but  sorely  try  these  pious  souls;  and  for  the  Mission  to  be 
left  without  a  resident  priest  was  a  most  serious  drawback  to 
its  progress.  On  the  other  hand,  the  abnormal  condition  of 
things  could  not  easily  be  remedied;  first,  because  of  the  scarcity 
of  priests  in  the  new  Diocese;  and  secondly,  because  missionary 


Crow  Chiefs 
Lump-on-the-Nose     Busy  Wolf       Yellow   Fringe      Peter,  Brother  of  Iron  Bull 
William  Moore  Father  Rene,  SJ.         Father  Prando,  S.J. 


ST.  LAB  RE'S  MISSION  249 

work  among  the  Indians  is  anything  but  attractive  to  human 
nature,  offering  as  it  does,  from  a  human  point  of  view,  very 
little  consolation. 

But  while  at  this  period  the  new-formed  Mission  of  St.  Labre 
was  rather  poorly  off  in  things  spiritual,  its  material  resources 
were  even  less  promising.  The  new  Diocese  was  poor.  Hence 
the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  felt  obliged  to  go  on  a  lecturing  tour 
through  some  of  the  Eastern  States,  to  raise  funds  in  behalf 
of  the  Indian  Mission  on  Tongue  River  which  he  had  so  much 
at  heart.  He  met  with  gratifying  success,  and  thus  the  material 
straits  of  the  institution  were,  at  least  partially,  relieved. 

Provision  had  also  been  made  for  the  spiritual  wants  of  the 
Cheyenne  Mission,  but  unfortunately  the  one  appointed  proved 
unfit  for  the  charge.  Thereupon,  the  Jesuit  Fathers  were  called 
to  assume  for  the  time  being  the  care  of  St.  Labre.  Accordingly, 
Fathers  A.  van  der  Velden  and  P.  Prando  were  assigned  to 
the  Cheyennes  in  the  early  part  of  October,  1885.  Father  P. 
Prando  labored  on  this  field  about  one  year,  passing  thence  to 
evangelize  the  neighboring  tribe  of  the  Crow  Indians.  Father 
A.  van  der  Velden  has  been  at  his  post  ever  since — save  an 
interval  of  a  few  months  in  1887 — now  alone,  now  assisted  by 
some  of  his  confreres. 

Of  the  mission  and  school  work  done  at  St.  Labre's  by  the 
Fathers  and  the  Ursuline  Nuns  we  can  offer  no  higher  encomium 
than  by  quoting  R.  L.  Upshaw,  the  Agent  in  charge  of  the 
Indians,  himself  a  non-Catholic.  In  his  official  Report  of  1887, 
to  the  Indian  Department,  R.  L.  Upshaw  speaks  of  the  School 
as  follows : 

The  only  school  connected  with  this  Agency  is  the  St.  Labre  board- 
ing school  on  the  Tongue  River,  a  contract  school,  being  in  charge 
of  the.  Sisters  of  the  Ursuline  Order.  The  school  building  is  a  very 
good  one,  erected  at  the  cost  of  $7,000.  It  has  a  capacity  for  fifty 
boarders  and  twenty  day  pupils,  the  attendance  has  been  an  average 
of  thirty-five  for  the  year,  boarders,  boys  and  girls.  The  pupils 
are  making  fair  progress ;  great  obstacles  have  been  overcome,  the 
Sisters  are  gaining  the  confidence  of  the  parents  and  children ;  Indian 
prejudices  are  breaking  down  and  the  way  made  easier  every  day; 
but  the  obstacles  in  the  way  of  bringing  these  savages  to  light  are 
still  very  great.  The  school  is  in  most  excellent  hands  and  deserves 
every   encouragement.     The   Sisters   make  sacrifices   seldom  made 


25o       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

without  prospect  of  great  and  immediate  reward.     The  major  part 
of  theirs  will  not  be  realized  until  death  shall  have  claimed  them. 

Of  the  missionary  work  done  by  the  Fathers  he  writes  as 
follows  in  the  same  official  Report : 

The  religious  instruction  to  these  Indians,  aside  from  that  given 
at  the  St.  Labre  school,  is  given  by  the  Rev.  A.  van  der  Velden,  S.  J., 
who  devotes  himself  to  his  duties  with  the  ardor  characteristic  of 
his  Society,  in  drawing  these  people  from  their  barbarism  The  en- 
couragement he  has  met  with,  if  measured  with  the  tangible  evidences 
of  success,  is  very  poor,  but  his  persistence  in  his  holy  duties  must 
in  time  have  its  effect,  even  upon  the  benighted  and  perverse  savages 
he  has  to  deal  with.  He  has  some  knowledge  of  medicines  and  has 
dispensed  a  quantity  of  them  purchased  at  his  own  cost.  A  part  of 
the  year  he  has  been  necessarily  absent  from  the  reservation,  attend- 
ing to  church  business,  and  his  absence  was  severely  felt.  It  is  hoped 
that  the  authorities  of  his  church  may  find  it  possible  to  give  him  an 
assistant,  as  the  field  is  too  large  for  one  man.  /  believe,  continues 
the  Agent,  the  influence  of  the  priests  is  of  the  greatest  importance 
in  bringing  these  people  to  a  state  of  civilisation  of  any  value.  A 
semi-civilized  savage,  copying  all  the  vices  of  his  white  neighbors,  will 
be  a  worse  citizen  than  the  barbarian  pure  and  simple. 

Thus  Indian  Agent  Upshaw,  non-Catholic  and  in  contact  with 
the  red  man  for  a  good  many  years  in  his  capacity  of  Government 
official. 

It  would  be  well  for  the  advocates  of  non-sectarian  Indian 
education — who  are  doing  today  their  utmost  to  withdraw  the 
Indian  from  the  influence  of  the  priests  and  Sisters — to  ponder  a 
little  over  the  last  two  sentences  prompted  by  long  experience  and 
observation.  We  have  placed  them  in  italics  for  their  special 
benefit. 

Father  van  der  Velden  was  changed  in  1894,  and  though 
some  three  years  later,  1897,  he  returned,  it  was  only  for  a 
temporary  stay,  as  the  Superiors  had  now  resolved  to  give  up 
the  care  of  St.  Labre's.* 

We  now  leave  the  Cheyennes,  to  pass  on  to  their  neighbors, 
the  Crow  Indians,  and  in  the  next  two  chapters  shall  present 
the  local  history  of  the  Mission  among  them  or  St.  Xavier's, 
which  is  the  last  remaining  to  complete  the  first  part  of  our  task. 

*  The  Mission  of  St.  Labre's  at  the  present  time  (September,  1922)  is  in 
charge  of  the  Fathers  of  St.  Edmund. 


Chapter  XXXIII. 

THE  CROW  INDIANS.      THEIR  COSMOGONY.      FIRST  MISSIONARY 
WORK  AMONG  THEM.        FR.   P.  BARCELO. 

THE  Crow  nation  is  the  largest  tribe  of  Indians  in  southern 
Montana.  It  occupies  today  an  extensive  reservation  within 
the  limits  of  Custer  County  in  the  Big  Horn  Valley  and  along 
the  southern  banks  of  the  Yellowstone  River. 

These  Indians  call  themselves  in  their  own  language  Absaroka, 
after  a  bird  of  the  crow  species  still  to  be  seen  in  Mexico  and 
other  parts  of  South  America,  but  which  has  never  been  known 
to  exist  in  the  wild  regions  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Hence 
the  supposition  that  the  Crows  belonged  originally  to  some  of 
the  Indian  families  toward  the  south,  whence  later  on  they 
emigrated  to  their  present  home.  This  opinion  gains  strength 
from  other  peculiarities  of  the  tribe. 

Some  fifty  years  ago  the  Crows  numbered  over  5,000;  the 
official  census  of  1887  gives  this  tribe  2,456  souls.  In  bygone 
days  these  people  were  considered  one  of  the  most  warlike  and 
valiant  tribes  of  the  Northwest.  "This  race,"  says  Father  De 
Smet,  "is  one  of  the  noblest  in  the  desert;  they  are  tall,  robust 
and  well  formed ;  have  a  piercing  eye,  aquiline  nose  and  teeth 
of  ivory  whiteness."  At  the  present  day,  however,  the  physical 
constitution  of  the  Crow  nation  has  sadly  deteriorated,  and 
is  far  from  what  Father  De  Smet  found  it  in  his  time.  While 
superior  in  intelligence  to  other  Indian  tribes,  the  Crows  like- 
wise surpassed  the  rest  in  superstitious  practices. 

Father  De  Smet  became  first  acquainted  with  these  Indians 
on  his  return  trip  to  St.  Louis  from  his  first  visit  to  the  Flat 
Heads.  "In  1840,"  he  writes,  "I  met  the  Crows  in  the  valley 
of  the  Big  Horn,  a  tributary  of  the  Yellowstone.  In  my  quality 
of  Black  Robe  they  received  me  with  all  possible  demonstrations 
of  respect  and  sincere  joy." 

While  in  council  with  these  Indians,  Father  De  Smet  struck 
a  match,  and  with  it  lighted  the  pipe  or  calumet  of  peace.     This 


252        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

filled  the  Crows  with  the  greatest  surprise,  as  they  had  never 
seen  matches  before.  Most  wonderful  stories  were  soon  told 
in  connection  with  this  simple  occurrence,  and  many  Indians 
were  led  by  it  to  look  upon  the  Black  Robe  as  a  superhuman 
being,  who  could  strike  fire  from  the  soles  of  his  shoes,  as 
well  as  from  any  part  of  his  body.  "It  requires  little,"  play- 
fully remarks  Father  De  Smet,  "to  acquire  a  reputation  among 
the  Indians;  with  a  few  matches  you  may  become  a  great  man 
among  the  Crows  and  receive  great  honors."  From  the  moment 
he  had  struck  that  match,  he  was  considered  the  greatest 
medicine  man  that  had  ever  visited  their  tribe,  and  he  was 
treated  in  consequence  with  every  respect  and  listened  to  by  all 
with  the  greatest  attention. 

Before  his  departure,  the  chiefs  and  principal  warriers  in 
the  camp  begged  the  Black  Robe  to  give  them  some  of  his 
mysterious  fire-sticks,  and  without  even  a  thought  that  the 
matches  would  be  turned  by  them  into  means  of  superstition, 
he  distributed  among  them  all  he  could  spare.  He  revisited 
the  Crows  in  1844,  and  they  now  tendered  him  a  most  solemn 
reception.  "I  was  lodged  in  the  largest  and  finest  tepee  in  the 
camp,"  he  tells  us,  "all  the  chiefs  and  warriors  being  habited 
in  their  embroidered  moccasins,  leggins  and  buckskin  shirts, 
ornamented  in  beads  and  porcupine  quills,  while  eagle  feathers 
crowned  their  heads.  One  of  the  chiefs  testified  to  a  special 
friendship  for  me:  'It  is  to  thee,  Black  Robe,'  said  he,  'that  I 
owe  all  the  glory  of  the  victories  I  have  gained  over  my 
enemies.'  Father  De  Smet  was  astonished  at  the  chief's 
language  and  begged  him  to  explain.  Upon  this,  the  chief 
took  from  his  neck  his  medicine,  carefully  wrapped  in  a  bit  of  kid. 
He  unrolled  it  and  displayed  to  Father  De  Smet's  wonder- 
ing view  a  remnant  of  the  matches  given  him  by  the  Father 
himself  in  1840.  "I  use  them,"  said  the  chief,  "every  time  I 
go  into  battle:  if  the  fire  appears  at  the  first  rubbing,  I  dart 
upon  my  enemy,  sure  of  victory.     .     .     ." 

"I  had  considerable  difficulty,"  adds  Father  De  Smet,  "in  dis- 
abusing their  minds  of  this  singular  superstition."  Still,  the 
foolish  idea  concerning  the  fire-sticks  remained  among  some 
of  them  and  spread  also  to  others.  What  puzzled  these  simple 
children  of  the  prairies  about  the  wonderful  sticks  was  that  at 


THE  CROW  INDIANS  253 

times  they  would  light  up  at  once  and  at  the  slightest  touch, 
whereas,  at  other  times,  no  amount  of  rubbing  could  bring  the 
fire  out.  The  matches  in  the  latter  case  had  either  gotten  wet, 
or  had  already  been  used,  and  the  poor  things  knew  not  the 
difference. 

One  day  some  Blackfeet,  who  also  had  caught  the  fire-stick 
superstition,  after  making  many  incantations  over  a  bunch  of 
matches  that  gave  out  fire  before,  and  now  obstinately  refused 
to  give  any  (the  phosphorus  had  been  washed  off  the  little  sticks 
while  the  Indian  who  carried  them  swam  across  a  swollen 
stream),  they  came  to  Father  Imoda,  to  learn  from  him  why  their 
fire-sticks  acted  that  way.  The  Father  told  them  that  not  every 
stick  was  good,  as  some  would  ignite,  and  others  would  not.  But 
this  the  Indians  had  already  found  out,  to  their  great  disappoint- 
ment and  chagrin.  What  they  were  most  anxious  to  know 
from  the  Black  Robe  was,  how  they  could  tell  the  good  fire- 
sticks  from  the  bad  ones,  those  that  had  "medicine"  in  them, 
and  those  that  had  not.  The  Father  told  them,  that  the  only 
way  was  to  try  them.  Accordingly,  when  they  had  succeeded 
in  securing  some  matches,  the  first  thing  the  Indians  did 
was  to  try  to  light  them,  one  after  the  other.  Those  that 
ignited  were  deemed  good  and  carefully  put  aside  for  future 
use;  the  others  that  did  not  light  up  were  thrown  away.  But 
as  they  could  not  get  fire  from  the  matches  already  lighted, 
the  Indians  became  so  utterly  disgusted  with  this  whole  fire- 
stick  business  that  they  soon  also  gave  up  (and  this  was 
what  the  Father  had  in  view)  all  their  superstitious  practices 
in  connection  with  it.  Not  long  after,  however,  they  learned 
the  proper  purpose  of  the  lucifer  match  and  made  use  of  it 
without  superstition. 

A  most  interesting  character  among  the  Crows  at  the  present 
day,  is  Chief  Iron  Bull.  He  was  one  of  the  guests  present  at 
the  driving  of  the  last  spike  along  the  line  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railway,  and  made  a  fine  Crow  speech  on  the  occasion. 

The  origin  of  the  world  and  of  the  Crow  Indians,  as  given 
time  and  again  to  Father  Prando  by  Iron  Bull,  is  quaint  and 
amusing.    It  follows : 

Long  ago  the  earth  was  small,  so  big  [said  Iron  Bull,  making  a 
circle  with  his  arms  and  hands] .  All  around  it  was  water.  The  Great 


254        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

Spirit  was  sitting  thus  [sitting  with  his  elbows  upon  his  knees  and 
his  chin  resting  upon  his  hands].  He  took  some  earth  and  threw  it 
into  the  water,  and  the  first  Crow  Indian  came  up.  His  eyes  were 
closed  and  his  mouth  was  shut.  The  Great  Spirit  opened  the  new 
man's  eyes  that  he  might  see,  then  also  the  mouth.  After  this,  he 
called  the  bird,  and  the  bird  came.  He  threw  the  bird  into  the  water 
and  it  sank.  When  it  came  back  the  bird  had  sand  in  its  beak.  The 
Great  Spirit  took  the  sand  and  blew  it  from  his  hand,  and  the  sand 
made  the  earth  bigger.  Then  the  Great  Spirit  made  the  buffalo,  the 
elk  and  the  antelope,  to  give  the.  man  something  to  eat.  Afterwards 
he  threw  more  earth  into  the  water  and  there  came  up  other  Crows, 
men  and  women.  They  were  living  far  from  the  white  man ;  they 
hunted  and  were  happy,  and  had  but  one  trouble,  they  had  no  fire. 
They  had  to  put  a  stick  between  two  other  pieces  of  wood  and  work 
it  around.  It  was  hard  work  and  made  them  tired.  They  had  no  cups 
and  used  buffalo  horns,  they  had  no  knives,  and  had  to  sharpen  stones. 
Then  the  Great  Spirit  made  the  Flat  Heads,  the  Sioux,  the  Piegans, 
the  Snakes,  the  Assiniboines,  and  placed  them  all  round  us.  The 
Crows  were  in  the  middle  of  the  earth,  because  they  were  the  best 
Indians.  We  fought  with  them  and  took  away  their  women.  Then 
the  white  man  came  and  traded  knives  and  guns  for  buffalo  robes. 
Then  the  priests  came. 

This  is  the  Crow  cosmogony  of  the  world  as  given  by  Iron 
Bull. 

The  first  knowledge  of  Christianity  was  imparted  to  these 
people,  so  far  as  we  know,  by  Father  De  Smet  in  1840,  and 
again  when  he  revisited  them  in  1844,  as  mentioned  above. 

In  1846-47  a  large  band  of  Crows  went  to  visit  the  Gros 
Ventres.  As  previously  stated,  Father  N.  Point  passed  the 
winter  of  1846-47  among  the  Blackfeet  and  Gros  Ventres,  and 
was  among  the  latter  when  the  Crows  arrived  on  their  friendly 
visit.  Availing  himself  of  this  good  opportunity,  while  instruct- 
ing the  Gros  Ventres,  the  Father  gave  instruction  also  to  the 
visiting  Crows,  and  baptized  twelve  of  their  children  at  the 
request  of  the  parents,  when  about  to  return  to  their  country.* 

*  We  note  for  the  sake  of  historical  accuracy,  that  it  is  not  quite  certain 
that  the  Crows  baptized  by  Father  Point  belonged  to  the  tribe  we  are  treating 
of.  They  may  have  been,  instead,  River  Crows,  a  family  of  Indians  living 
along  the  banks  of  the  Missouri,  entirely  different  from  our  Crows  and 
known  as  Mountain  Crows,  to  distinguish  them  from  the  other  people.  It 
is  most  probable  that  such  was  really  the  case ;  since  the  Crows  who  are 
the  subject  of  this  first  part  of  our  narrative,  were  mortal  enemies  of  both 
the  Blackfeet  and  the  Gros  Ventres. 


THE  CROW  INDIANS  255 

This,  so  far  as  we  know,  was  all  the  missionary  work  clone 
among  the  Crows  previous  to  1880.  And  although  from  the 
very  first  visit  made  to  them  by  Father  De  Smet,  these  poor 
savages,  like  the  rest  of  their  fellow  Indians  of  the  mountains, 
had  never  ceased  to  ask  for  Catholic  missionaries,  their  wishes 
and  prayers  had  remained  unanswered  for  want  of  laborers. 

In  1880,  Father  P.  Barcelo,  who  had  been  stationed  at  Helena 
as  the  writer's  companion,  was  directed  by  Superiors  to  visit 
the  Crows,  and  on  his  first  visit  baptized  114  of  their  children. 
He  made  from  that  on  periodical  excursions  to  the  tribe,  fre- 
quently alone,  sometimes  accompanied  by  another  Father,  and 
labored  most  faithfully  and  most  earnestly  in  this  thorny  portion 
of  the  Lord's  vineyard.  Few  know  the  sufferings  the  good 
Father  endured  to  win  these  people  to  God.  The  hardships  of 
Indian  missionary  life,  in  a  comparatively  short  time  seriously 
undermined  his  otherwise  robust  constitution.  Superiors  called 
him  to  Spokane,  where  the  best  medical  skill  was  employed  to 
restore  him  to  health.  A  slight  change  for  the  better  led  to 
the  hope  that  he  might  regain  his  strength,  but  the  improvement 
was  more  apparent  than  real.  After  a  short  interval  of  apparent 
progress  towards  recovery,  he  grew  rapidly  worse;  and  on 
November  1,  1888,  the  Feast  of  All  Saints,  he  went  to  receive 
his  crown. 

Father  P.  Barcelo  was  a  Mexican  by  birth,  and  entered  the 
Society  of  Jesus  at  Santa  Clara,  Calif.,  where  he  made  part 
of  his  novitiate  under  Father  Ravalli.  He  had  been  preparing 
for  the  priesthood  in  one  of  the  Mexican  seminaries,  and  had 
gone  through  the  curriculum  of  belles-lettres,  and  partly  also 
of  philosophy,  before  entering  the  Society.  After  his  novitiate, 
he  reviewed  his  former  studies  at  Santa  Clara,  whence  he  was 
sent  to  Woodstock  College,  Md.,  to  complete  his  philosophical 
and  divinity  course.  As  a  mathematician,  philosopher  and 
theologian,  Father  Barcelo  was  possessed  of  more  than  ordinary 
talent;  and  as  a  Religious,  whether  a  novice,  student,  professor 
or  missionary,  he  was  always  most  exemplary  and  edifying. 
We  lived  with  him  a  number  of  years,  and  never  ceased  to 
admire  his  fervent  piety,  constant  self-denial  and  deep  humility, 
while  his  poverty  was  always  of  that  stern,  severe  kind  that  is 
never  professed  but  at  the  expense  of  personal  comfort. 


256        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

The  only  fault  we  ever  found  with  Father  Barcelo  was  his 
uncompromising  severity  with  himself,  and  we  plead  guilty  to 
having  laid  before  the  Superiors  this  charge  against  him,  in 
the  hope  that  his  life  might  be  prolonged.  But  men  of  God — 
and  in  our  humble  opinion  Father  Barcelo  was  one  of  the  number 
— live  on  a  higher  plane  than  the  common  herd  of  mortals; 
and  so  ready  are  we  old  rusty  sinners  to  gauge  by  our  short- 
sightedness what  is  altogether  above  it,  that  most  imprudently 
we  accuse  of  indiscretion  what  must  needs  be  eminently  discreet 
and  prudent,  because  inspired  by  God  Himself. 

It  was  in  the  heart  of  an  intensely  cold  winter,  the  ther- 
mometer ranging  between  50  and  60  degrees  below  zero,  when 
Father  Barcelo  arrived  at  Deer  Lodge  from  Ogden.  He  wore 
the  thin  summer  garment  he  had  donned  in  California,  and  were 
it  not  for  the  kindness  of  a  gentleman,  John  Curtin,  of  Helena, 
who  happened  to  be  on  the  same  coach,  and  who  kindly  lent 
the  Father  some  winter  covering,  he  could  not  have  escaped 
being  frozen  to  death.  On  entering  the  Sisters'  Hospital  at 
Deer  Lodge,  he  sank  utterly  exhausted.  It  took  no  little  time 
and  care  to  revive  him.  So  unmindful  was  he  of  himself  and 
his  own  comfort! 

Another  incident,  both  edifying  and  amusing  and  often 
repeated  in  this  part  of  the  country,  is  worth  mentioning,  as  it 
throws  additional  light  on  Father  Barcelo's  character. 

On  his  missionary  excursions  from  Helena  to  the  outlying 
stations,  the  Father  would  often  put  up  for  the  night  at  a  non- 
Catholic  friend's,  somewhere  along  the  Northern  Pacific  Rail- 
way. This  non-Catholic  gentleman  who  was  very  kind  to  Father 
Barcelo,  and  loved  to  share  with  him  his  bachelor's  quarters, 
had  seen  the  Father  on  his  knees  absorbed  in  prayers  for  hours. 
When  meal  time  arrived,  he  would  call  the  priest,  who  seemed 
loath  to  discontinue  his  devotions,  and  with  a  wave  of  the 
hand  would  beg  his  kind  host  to  leave  him  alone  a  little  longer. 
An  itinerant  non-Catholic  clergyman  happened  one  night  to 
be  the  guest  of  the  same  gentleman,  and  was  observed  by  the 
latter  to  be  rather  brief  in  saying  his  night  prayers ;  while  the 
next  morning  he  called  for  his  breakfast  even  before  the  hour 
of  breakfast  had  arrived.  "You  were  rather  short  in  your 
prayers,  sir,  both  last  night  and  this  morning,"  said  the  gentle- 


Chief  Plenty  Coues  of  the  Crows 


THE  CROW  INDIANS  257 

man  to  his  guest.  "My  good  friend,  Father  Barcelo  is  quite 
different — he  is  never  ready  to  sit  down  at  the  table;  he  falls 
on  his  knees,  and  whether  he  lies  down  to  rest  I  cannot  say; 
he  is  on  his  knees  when  I  fall  asleep  and  I  see  him  on  his 
knees  when  I  wake  up."  The  visitor  found  the  comparison 
scarcely  to  his  liking  and  excused  himself  by  saying  that  he 
felt  very  tired  last  evening  and  very  hungry  now,  and  had 
cut  his  prayers  short  in  consequence.  "I  shall  not  question 
that,  sir,"  said  the  host,  good-naturedly,  "but  I  have  noticed 
this  long  while  that  many  of  your  class  prefer  a  short  cut  to 
Heaven." 

In  1886  Fathers  U.  Grassi  and  P.  Prando  were  appointed 
to  select  a  site  for  a  permanent  Mission  among  the  Crows.  The 
spot  they  chose  lay  at  the  mouth  of  a  small  stream  named 
Rotten  Grass,  where  it  joins  the  Big  Horn,  which  flows  in  a 
northerly  direction  through  the  whole  length  of  the  valley, 
discharging  its  waters  into  the  Yellowstone.  The  location  is 
twenty-two  miles  from  Fort  Custer  and  about  the  same  distance 
in  a  southwesterly  direction  from  the  Crow  Agency,  which  is 
only  a  short  distance  from  the  battlefield  where  daring  Custer 
and  all  his  command  perished  at  the  hands  of  the  Sioux.  Look- 
ing southward,  the  view  extends  as  far  as  the  distant  and 
picturesque  range  of  the  Big  Horn  Mountains,  while  northward, 
in  the  direction  of  Fort  Custer,  the  country  is  an  unbroken 
plain  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach. 

Late  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year  the  writer  had  been  detailed 
to  proceed  to  the  Crow  Reservation  with  the  object  of  making 
arrangements  toward  building  some  quarters.  The  instructions 
given  him  called  for  a  structure  of  specified  dimensions,  the 
cost  of  which,  however,  was  not  to  exceed  the  sum  of  six 
hundred  dollars.  The  task  proved  utterly  impracticable,  for 
the  simple  reason  that  the  mere  hauling  of  the  material  could 
not  be  done  for  the  whole  of  that  amount.  A  few  months  after, 
better  plans  having  been  matured,  two  Fathers,  one  of  them 
being  Fr.  Prando,  were  assigned  to  the  Crow  Mission  and 
directed  to  proceed  with  the  construction  of  permanent  buildings. 

The  two  Fathers  were  joined  at  Helena  by  a  young  man, 
Eddie  Dillon,  who  felt  prompted  to  devote  himself  to  their 
service.    Our  esteemed  townsman,  the  Hon.  John  Sweeney — since 


258        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

deceased — presented  them  with  a  spacious  tent,  which  was  to 
be  their  dwelling  place  for  several  months.  On  the  25th  of 
February,  1887,  they  arrived  at  the  site  that  had  been  chosen 
the  year  before,  their  journey  through  the  reservation  having 
proven  anything  but  a  jaunt  of  pleasure,  owing  to  the  severity 
of  the  winter. 

Having  cleared  away  the  snow  from  a  patch  of  ground,  they 
pitched  their  tent.  It  answered  at  once  for  church,  reception 
room,  storehouse,  kitchen  and  dormitory.  These  were  the  first 
quarters  of  the  Crow  Mission,  to  be  known  henceforth  as  St. 
Xavier's.  The  little  band  lived  in  this  primitive  abode  some 
eight  months,  doing  their  own  cooking.  The  Indians  came  in 
numbers  to  greet  the  Black  Robes  and  showed  themselves  very 
friendly.  It  soon  became  necessary  to  have  more  room  and 
two  more  tents  had  to  be  erected.  In  the  spring  contracts  were 
let  for  a  frame  structure  40  by  60  feet,  two  and  one-half  stories 
high,  to  be  used  as  a  school. 

The  new  premises  were  ready  for  occupancy  by  the  first  of 
September ;  but  no  school  was  opened  until  the  following  month. 
The  colony  of  Ursulines  assigned  to  conduct  the  school  were 
delayed  at  St.  Paul  for  lack  of  funds  to  pursue  their  journey. 
They  arrived  at  St.  Xavier's  on  the  first  of  October,  and  found 
the  country  full  of  the  wildest  excitement. 

Wrought  up  to  a  pitch  of  frenzy  by  one  of  their  medicine- 
men, the  Crows  were  just  then  up  in  arms  against  the  whites. 
This  Indian  imposter  boasted  of  being  able  to  exterminate  every 
paleface  by  means  of  his  favorite  weapon — a  rusty  bayonet- 
sword  that  had  been  unearthed  in  some  field — hence  he  went 
by  the  name  of  "Sword-bearer"  or  the  "Man-of-the-sword." 
He  claimed  likewise  to  possess  a  mysterious  powder,  by  scat- 
tering which  in  the  air  "he  could  strike  stone-blind  all  their 
white  foes,"  while  with  his  rusty  implement  "he  could  down 
every  horseman  and  kill  both  rider  and  horse  at  one  stroke." 

Many  of  the  young  Crow  warriors  credited  his  powers  and 
were  "spoiling"  for  a  fight  with  the  Government  soldiers  sta- 
tioned at  Fort  Custer,  but  who  were  now  hastily  brought  up 
close  to  the  Agency,  owing  to  the  threatening  attitude  of  the 
Indians.  The  very  evening  the  Ursulines  arrived  at  the  Agency 
with  one   of  the  Fathers   as  their   escort,   the   Crows  made   a 


THE  CROW  INDIANS  259 

hostile  demonstration  against  the  premises,  marching  around 
in  battle  array  and  shouting  defiance  to  the  whites  within.  They 
grew  bolder  and  more  aggressive  toward  dusk,  and  fired  several 
shots  into  the  buildings,  terrifying  the  employees  and  their 
families,  but  happily  hitting  no  one.  They  made  no  further 
attack,  though  all  through  the  night  they  kept  up  their  war- 
whoops  and  savage  yells.  The  next  morning  the  surrounding 
hills  were  thick  with  armed  Crows,  while  the  Government  troops, 
four  companies  of  cavalry,  were  drawn  up  in  front  ready  for 
the  fray.     The  soldiers  had  orders  not  to  fire  the  first  shot. 

The  Fathers  and  Sisters  were  entreated  by  the  Agency  people 
not  to  start  for  the  Mission,  as  their  way  lay  between  the  two 
forces,  who  any  moment  might  engage  in  battle,  both  sides 
awaiting  for  the  first  shot.  The  Indians  learned  in  the  mean- 
while of  the  arrival  of  the  Black  Robe  and  the  Nuns  at  the 
Agency,  and  notwithstanding  their  warlike  attitude  against  the 
whites,  civilians  or  soldiers,  they  came  down  from  their  positions 
to  greet  and  shake  hands  with  them.  The  Government  troops 
on  their  side,  officers  and  men,  did  likewise,  and  thus  the  little 
missionary  band  passed  between  the  two  hostile  forces  respected 
and  saluted  by  both.  What  a  subject  for  the  brush  and  canvas 
of  an  artist!  The  Indians  not  only  allowed  the  peaceful  colony 
to  proceed  through  their  files  unmolested,  but  a  number  of 
warriors  joined  the  party,  as  an  escort,  and  accompanied  our 
travelers  to  the  Mission,  some  twenty-three  miles  away. 

Some  days  later  there  was  an  engagement  between  the  U.  S. 
troops  and  the  Indians,  but  the  fight  was  over  almost  before  it 
had  begun.  One  of  the  Crow  scouts,  siding  with  the  soldiers, 
picked  off  the  Indian  bully,  the  medicine-man,  who  was  the 
cause  of  all  the  trouble.  As  soon  as  the  Indians  saw  their  leader, 
whom  they  had  looked  upon  as  invulnerable,  fall,  in  spite  of  his 
sword  and  mysterious  powder,  they  lost  at  once  all  their  martial 
ardor,  and  "the  Crow  war"  came  to  an  abrupt  end. 


Chapter  XXXIV. 

MISSION  AND  SCHOOL  WORK.      FATHER  P.  PRANDO. 

THE  little  band  of  three  Ursulines,  having  safely  reached 
their  destination,  began  at  once  to  prepare  the  new  building 
for  the  reception  of  the  children.  By  much  hard  work  every- 
thing was  made  ready  in  a  short  time,  and  some  twenty  Crow 
children  entered  the  school.  But  scarcely  a  week  after,  owing  to 
the  Sword-Bearer  disturbance — which  was  now  about  to  reach 
its  crisis — the  parents  took  all  their  children  home,  leaving  the 
school  without  a  pupil.  With  the  death  of  the  disturber,  the 
excitement  soon  subsided,  and  the  children  returned  in  larger 
numbers  than  before.  By  Christmas  some  fifty  pupils  were  in 
attendance.  The  accommodations  soon  proved  insufficient,  and 
two  new  structures,  one  25  by  100  feet,  for  additional  school 
facilities,  and  the  other  36  by  75  feet  for  a  chapel,  were  completed 
by  December,  1888. 

The  number  of  pupils  increased  soon  after  to  150.  The  school 
today  is  in  a  flourishing  condition,  and  the  result  of  the  Fathers' 
and  Sisters'  efficient  work  is  the  noticeable  advancement  of  their 
pupils  in  the  paths  of  both  virtue  and  knowledge.  The  branches 
taught  and  the  methods  followed  here  are  the  same  as  in  all 
other  Catholic  Indian  schools,  book-learning  going  hand  in  hand 
with  useful  manual  exercise,  and  everything  being  directed  to 
make  the  Indian  youth  moral  and  industrious.  The  Crow 
children  are  bright  and  intelligent,  have  good,  retentive  memories, 
and  like  to  be  instructed.  The  girls  are,  perhaps,  somewhat 
quicker  to  learn,  easier  to  mould  and  more  responsive  to  the 
teacher's  care,  and,  consequently,  somewhat  more  advanced  than 
the  boys. 

Comparing  these  children  with  what  they  were  some  few 
years  ago  in  their  savage  surroundings,  vicious  and  degrading 
beyond  conception,  one  cannot  but  wonder  at  the  gratifying 
results  that  have  been  accomplished.  To  see  them  approach  the 
Holy  Table  every  Sunday,  to  hear  them  offer  up  their  prayers  to 


SCHOOL  FOR  CROW  INDIANS  261 

God  every  morning  and  evening,  one  would  imagine  himself,  not 
among  recently  converted  savages,  but  in  the  midst  of  an  old- 
time  civilized  community. 

The  boys'  department  of  St.  Xavier's  school  is  conducted  by 
six  members  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  while  the  girls  are  under 
the  care  of  eight  Ursuline  Sisters,  the  U.  S.  Government  making 
a  yearly  allowance  for  120  pupils  at  the  rate  of  $180  each.  The 
school,  however,  has  today  accommodations  for  twice  the 
number.  As  with  the  Holy  Family  Mission,  so  with  this  of  St. 
Xavier,  the  funds  for  its  establishment  were  furnished  by  the 
Misses  Drexel,  of  Philadelphia,  at  whose  expense  the  new  and 
substantial  brick  building  just  completed  was  also  constructed. 

While  the  progress  in  the  education  of  the  young  Crow  genera- 
tion has  been  encouraging,  the  fruit  of  the  Fathers'  missionary 
labors  has  been  equally  gratifying.  This  part  of  the  work  is 
carried  on  by  Fathers  R.  Crimont,  S.  J.,*  and  P.  Prando.  The 
baptismal  records  of  the  Mission,  from  its  beginning  to  the  end 
of  1891,  contain  1070  baptisms,  this  being  nearly  the  half  of  the 
whole  Crow  population.  During  the  same  time  65  marriages 
have  been  solemnized  according  to  the  rites  of  the  Church,  and 
some  200  of  the  tribe  have  been  confirmed  by  the  Right  Rev. 
J.  B.  Brondel. 

As  a  means  of  advancing  the  moral  and  religious  welfare  of 
these  Indians,  there  is  at  St.  Xavier's  a  Sodality  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  canonically  established.  It  is  divided  into  three  branches, 
one  being  for  married  people,  men  and  women;  another  for 
the  young  men,  and  the  third  for  the  young  women  of  the  tribe. 
The  Indians,  not  less  than  many  of  their  pale-faced  cousins,  are 
attracted  by  show,  and  to  stimulate  their  fervor  and  piety  the 
oldest  and  exemplary  members  of  the  married  men's  Sodality 
are  dressed  in  long,  red  gowns,  with  a  yellow  sash,  and  go  by 
the  name  of  Red  Gowns.  Their  bearing  when  among  the  other 
Indians  is  so  dignified  as  to  verge  at  times  toward  the  ludicrous. 
Many  of  the  men  desire  to  become  Red  Gowns,  but  the  privilege 
is  granted  to  such  only  as  by  their  conduct  will  be  an  example  to 
the  rest.  The  women  Sodalists  wear  a  long,  black  cloak,  with  a 
head-gear  in  the  shape  of  a  hood.     While  the  garb  somewhat 

*  Father  Raphael  Crimont,  S.  J.,  referred  to  in  the  text,  is  the  present  Bishop 
of  Alaska. 


262        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

tickles  the  wearers,  on  account  of  the  natural  vanity  of  the  sex, 
it  also  prompts  them  to  be  well-behaved  and  exemplary.  The 
grace  of  God,  co-operating  with  the  work  of  the  missionary,  has 
made  a  number  of  true  and  fervent  believers  among  the  older 
members  of  the  tribe,  and  the  following  examples,  taken  at 
random,  may  serve  to  illustrate  the  simple  and  active  faith  of 
some  of  these  Indian  converts. 

On  one  occasion  the  chief,  who  had  received  Holy  Communion, 
asked  to  be  allowed  to  speak.  He  stood  in  front  of  the  altar  and 
spoke,  or  rather  prayed  aloud  as  follows :  "O  God !  I  believe  all 
your  words  the  Black  Robe  has  been  teaching  me.  O  God !  when 
after  a  long  life  on  earth  I  shall  die,  I  want  you  to  take  the  key 
of  Heaven  and  open  the  door  so  I  can  go  in  and  see  your  face. 
O  Virgin  Mary !  I  love  you ;  I  would  like  to  see  you  in  Heaven. 
O  God !  pity  us.  We  are  poor  people.  Let  the  grass  grow  high, 
our  ponies  be  fat,  our  cows  of  many  calves,  our  potatoes  big, 
and  keep  away  from  us  the  lightning  and  small-pox.     I  finish." 

An  old  man,  a  brother  of  one  of  the  chiefs,  on  being  slapped 
on  the  face  by  another  Indian,  bore  the  insult  without  the  least 
resentment,  because  he  had  received  Holy  Communion  on  that 
day  and  wished  to  put  in  practice  those  words  of  our  Saviour, 
"Forgive  us  as  we  forgive  those  who  trespass  against  us." 

Some  of  these  Indians  abstain  from  smoking  for  months, 
some  even  for  a  whole  year,  out  of  devotion  to  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  while  others  will  abstain  from  tasting  any  flesh  meat  on 
a  Friday,  when  they  scarcely  have  a  morsel  of  other  food.  A 
good  number  attend  Mass  and  instruction  every  day.  Neither 
rain,  nor  cold,  nor  deep  snow  can  keep  them  away  from  their 
first  Friday's  Communion.  They  are  eager  to  learn  the 
Christian  Doctrine,  and  old  people  with  a  poor  memory  will 
gladly  remain  in  the  church  several  hours  repeating  prayers. 
Although  many  of  the  Crow  Indians  turn  persistently  a  deaf  ear 
to  the  voice  of  the  Priest  of  God,  and  refuse  to  embrace  Christi- 
anity themselves,  still  they  willingly  permit  their  children  to  be 
baptized  and  brought  up  in  the  faith. 

But  despite  all  these  encouraging  and  hopeful  signs,  the  field 
is  still,  to  a  large  extent,  covered  with  briars  and  thorns.  The 
moral  corruption  and  sensualism  of  the  Crows,  together  with 
their  pride,  deep-rooted  human  respect  and  superstitions,  are  the 


SCHOOL  FOR  CROW  INDIANS  263 

greatest  obstacles  in  the  way  of  their  conversion  to  the  faith. 
Some  of  the  young  scamps  of  the  tribe  appear  afraid  of  the 
crucifix  and  look  upon  it  as  "too  strong  medicine"  for  them. 
But  this  is  the  one  kind  of  medicine  they  need  the  most,  and  the 
only  one  that  can  and  will  cure  all  their  moral  distempers. 

Father  P.  Prando,  who  seems  to  have  been  especially  cut  out 
for  Indian  missionary  work,  is  beloved  by  all  the  Crows,  and  is 
entirely  devoted  to  their  welfare.  A  frontier  lady,  living  in  that 
part  of  the  country,  while  praising  him  one  day  to  the  Right 
Rev.  Bishop  Brondel  and  Father  Cataldo,  qualified  him  with 
emphasis  as  "A  true  gentleman  and  a  Crow."  He  visits  the 
Indians  in  their  homes,  and  while  very  successful  in  relieving  the 
bodily  infirmities  peculiar  to  these  people,  he  is  equally  so  in 
curing  and  saving  many  a  poor  soul. 

Indian  gratefulness,  however,  takes  at  times  very  odd  turns 
and  may  manifest  itself  when  you  least  expect  it.  On  one 
occasion  Father  Prando  came  upon  an  old  man,  who,  on  account 
of  the  repulsive  disease  that  afflicted  him,  had  been  cast  away  by 
his  own  people.  The  poor  wretch  was  a  mass  of  rottenness. 
The  good  Samaritan  picked  him  up  and  took  care  of  him  and  at 
the  end  of  three  years'  treatment  and  careful  nursing  the  patient 
was  able  to  return  to  his  people  entirely  cured.  Some  time  after, 
an  old  Indian  woman  rode  up  to  the  Father,  saying,  "Black 
Robe,  I  have  brought  you  back  your  son."  "My  son  ?  I  have  no 
son,"  answered  Father  Prando.  "There  he  is,"  said  the  old 
witch,  pointing  to  the  man.  "He  was  going  to  die,  you  took  care 
of  him  and  cured  him:  you  now  keep  and  feed  him."  It  would 
hardly  do,  however,  for  this  kind  of  remuneration  to  become 
general ;  it  would  be  risky  for  the  patients ;  and  it  is  quite  enough 
for  the  physician  to  lose  his  fee,  without  having  to  feed  his 
patients  besides.* 

Father  Prando's  numerous  adventures  with  white  and  Indian 
on  this  and  other  missionary  fields,  if  written  down,  would  fill 
a  good-sized  volume.     Returning  from  one  of  his  excursions,  he 

*  Father  Prando  has  discovered  and  prepares  from  Indian  herbs  a  remedy 
which  has  attained  celebrity  in  this  part  of  the  country.  It  is  a  liquid 
liniment  to  be  applied  externally,  and  is  found  to  be  of  great  efficacy  in 
relieving  pain  in  rheumatic  affections  and  kindred  ailments.  It  is  called 
Iste-Umate,  a  compound  Crow  word,  meaning  "iron  eyes,"  the  name  the 
Father  himself  goes  by  among  the  Indians  on  account  of  his  spectacles. 


264        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

arrived  one  Sunday  evening  at  a  cowboys'  camp,  where  he 
sought  shelter  for  the  night.  He  was  treated  with  that  generous 
hospitality  that  is  so  characteristic  of  those  seemingly  rough,  yet 
really  kind-hearted  people.  While  spending  the  evening  in  a 
friendly  chat  together:  "Boys,"  said  one  of  the  number,  "this 
is  the  Sabbath,  and  we  must  observe  it  by  a  little  reading  of  our 
Bible."  And  stepping  towards  a  small  shelf,  he  brought  out 
what  he  called  "their  Bible,"  and  what  proved  to  be  one  of 
Robert  Ingersoll's  ill-famed  works.  He  read  a  passage  where 
the  cynic  sage  of  modern  agnosticism  ridicules  the  veracity  of 
the  Scriptures,  from  the  fact  that  in  Genesis  IV.  reference  is 
made  to  Cain  as  having  a  wife,  and  still  it  does  not  appear  that 
she  was  or  could  be  of  Adam's  family.  Whence  did  she  come 
from?  There  were,  then,  human  beings  on  earth  who  were  not 
the  offspring  of  Adam  and  Eve,  contrary  to  what  is  taught  by 
Christian  faith. 

After  the  reading  of  the  passage,  there  was  a  lively  discussion 
on  the  subject  by  the  cowboys,  at  the  expense,  of  course,  of 
religion  and  the  teachings  of  Christianity.  Father  Prando, 
being  now  applied  to  for  his  opinion  on  the  knotty  problem,  told 
his  hearers  that  Cain's  wife  was  also  Cain's  own  sister,  and  that 
it  was  not  exactly  necessary  for  the  Bible  to  say  everything.  One 
of  the  learned  disputants  took  exception  to  Father  Prando's 
explanation  as  unwarranted  and  not  found  in  the  Bible.  "Well, 
sir,"  said  Father  Prando  to  him,  "can  you  find  me  anywhere  in 
the  Bible  that  Adam  ever  went  to  the  closet?  You  must  either 
admit,  then,  that  he  had  no  human  necessities,  because  not  stated 
in  the  Scripture,  or  that  something  can  be  true  though  not 
expressly  mentioned  in  the  Bible."  This  reasoning  ex  visceribus, 
though  not  causae,  exactly,  brought  down  the  house,  and  all 
agreed  that  the  priest  had  the  best  of  the  argument. 

He  met  one  day  an  Indian  in  whose  heart  was  rankling  a  bitter 
grudge  against  another,  and  who,  brooding  over  his  wrong,  was 
biding  his  chance  to  revenge  himself  on  the  offender.  Father 
Prando  undertook  to  dissuade  him,  and  brought  up  every  argu- 
ment he  could  think  of  to  induce  the  embittered  Crow  to  put 
aside  his  rancor  and  forgive.  The  man  stood  statue-like,  most 
attentive  to  the  words  of  the  priest,  at  times  appearing  to  debate 
with  himself  what  he  had  better  do.    After  a  rather  long  interval 


SCHOOL  FOR  CROW  INDIANS  265 

of  indecision  and  silence  he,  at  last,  came  to  this  conclusion: 
''Give  me  two  dollars,"  said  he  to  the  Father,  "and  I  forgive 
him." 

On  another  occasion  Father  Prando  had  made  a  bargain  for 
a  horse  with  two  clever  Crows,  on  the  express  condition  that  the 
animal  should  prove  satisfactory.  Upon  trial,  however,  the 
beast  was  so  fractious  that  to  saddle  and  mount  him  they  had  to 
blindfold  him,  and  this  was  done  by  one  of  the  Indians  pulling 
off  his  shirt  and  holding  it  over  the  broncho's  eyes.  Still,  despite 
the  balkiness  of  the  animal,  the  red-skin  dealers  were  insisting 
with  Father  Prando  that  he  should  stand  by  the  bargain  and 
accept  the  horse.  It  is  not  an  easy  task  to  reason  an  Indian  out 
of  what  he  wants,  but  the  shirt  performance  furnished  Father 
Prando  a  way  of  extricating  himself.  "My  friends,"  said  he  to 
the  Indians,  "your  animal  is  a  very  fine  one,  and  I  should  like 
to  have  no  other  to  ride  over  these  prairies ;  I  could  fly  with  him, 
and  no  one  could  see  me  when  I  should  have  to  mount  him. 
But,  you  know,  I  am  a  Black  Robe,  and  do  much  horse-back 
traveling,  not  only  among  you,  but  among  the  pale-faces  as  well. 
Now,  you  see,  among  these  people  I  could  not  very  well  pull  off 
my  shirt  every  time  that  I  should  have  to  saddle  and  mount  my 
horse."  The  two  Indians  could  not  resist  the  cogency  of  the 
argument  and  the  deal  was  declared  "off." 

Father  Prando  has  had  more  than  his  share  of  the  hardships 
attendant  upon  the  life  of  an  Indian  missionary.  We  give  here 
one  instance.  While  going  from  the  Cheyenne  Mission  to  the 
Crows  one  winter,  he  lost  his  way  in  the  Wolf  mountains.  After 
traveling  the  whole  of  the  first  day  through  deep  snows,  climbing 
mountain  after  mountain,  in  a  vain  effort  to  discover  his  where- 
abouts, he  tied  his  horse  to  a  tree  and  laid  himself  down  by  the 
side  of  a  rock,  his  only  shelter  for  the  night.  He  was  again  on  the 
saddle  the  whole  of  the  next  day  until  late  in  the  evening,  when 
his  Guardian  Angel  most  unexpectedly  brought  him  to  a  cabin, 
where  he  found  a  solitary  cowboy,  who  received  the  worn-out 
missionary  with  the  greatest  kindness  and  hospitality.  Father 
Prando  had  not  eaten  a  morsel  of  food  since  leaving  the 
Cheyenne  Mission. 

Shortly  after  its  establishment,  St.  Xavier's  was  supplemented 
by  the  erection  of  a  chapel  on  Pryor  Creek,  for  the  accommoda- 


266        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 


tion  of  a  numerous  band  of  Crows  under  Chief  Plenty  Coues. 
Though  friendly  to  the  missionaries  and  desirous  to  have  a 
church  and  school  among  his  people,  Plenty  Coues,  thus  far,  has 
shown  no  disposition  to  embrace  Christianity  himself.  When  the 
last  Crow  shall  have  been  baptized,  said  the  chief  time  and  again 
to  Father  Prando,  then  he,  too,  will  enter  the  fold. 

Quite  recently  a  school  has  also  been  opened  in  this  Indian 
village.  It  is  a  dependency  of  St.  Xavier  in  common  with  which 
it  was  designated  at  its  start;  but  it  is  now  named  after  St. 
Charles.*  At  the  time  of  our  writing  another  supplementary 
chapel  is  being  erected  near  the  Agency,  and  is  intended  for  the 
benefit  of  quite  a  number  of  Crows  who  are  living  on  the  Little 
Horn,  Lodge-Grass  creek,  at  the  Agency  and  in  other  neighbor- 
ing places.f 

*  This  branch  school  served  its  purpose  for  some  years,  that  is,  up  to  1908, 
when   it  was   discontinued. 

t  We  give  below,  in  their  regular  succession,  the  names  of  those  who  were 
the  local  Superiors  of  the  Mission  since  1891.  They  were  the  following: 
Fathers  Raphael  Crimont,  from  1891-2;  Joseph  Bandini,  from  1892-3;  Joseph 
M.  Cataldo,  from  1893-7;  John  van  der  Pol,  from  1897-1900;  John  Boschi, 
from  1900-01;  L.  Taelman,  from  1901-05;  Joseph  Cardon,  from  1905-07; 
Thomas  Grant,  from   1907-13.     Father  Taelman  is  again  in  charge. 

In  the  nineties  slated  for  Superior  was  Father  Francis  Andreis.  Death 
however,  claimed  him,  and  took  him  off  not  very  far  from  the  Mission,  June 
16,  1898,  by  accidental  drowning.     God  rest  him. 


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9  '  "      I 


Chapter  XXXV. 

AN    IMPENDING    CALAMITY    TO    OUR    CATHOLIC    INDIANS.* 

WE  HAVE  before  us  an  official  circular  of  the  Hon.  Com- 
missioner of  Indian  Affairs,  dated  Washington,  D.  C, 
June  9,  1892,  and  addressed  to  the  Indian  Agents  in  our  State. 
The  Hon.  Commissioner  announces  that  "a  new  Indian  indus- 
trial training  school  has  been  established  at  Fort  Shaw,  Montana, 
and  that  the  Superintendent,  Dr.  W.  H.  Winslow,  physician  and 
principal  teacher  at  Chiloco,  Oklahoma,  has  been  directed  to 
proceed  to  Fort  Shaw  and  enter  upon  the  duties  of  his  new 
position."  He  then  declares  that,  "it  is  the  hope  of  the  Office 
to  make  this  a  large  school  and,  eventually,  one  of  the  most 
important  in  the  Indian  service."  Having  pointed  out  the 
advantages  of  the  location,  on  account  of  buildings,  facilities  for 
agricultural  pursuits,  etc.,  the  Commissioner  continues  as 
follows : 

It  is  the  expectation  of  the  Office  that  a  large  number  of  children 
will  be  transferred  from  your  reservation  to  this  new  school,  and 
you  are  directed  to  co-operate  heartily  with  Superintendent  Winslow 
and  with  Supervisor  Parker  in  their  efforts  to  secure  a  large  enroll- 
ment for  Fort  Shaw,  as  soon  as  the  school  is  ready  to  receive  pupils. 

Children  transferred  should  not  be  under  twelve  to  fourteen  years 
of  age,  and  they  should  have  a  fair  knowledge  of  English.  It  is 
desirable  that  the  children  should  have  been  previously  in  attendance 
at  some  other  school. 

Very  respectfully, 

T.  J.  Morgan,  Commissioner. 

We  call  the  attention  of  all  fair-minded  people  to  this  official 
document,  whose  salient  points  we  take  the  liberty  of  putting  in 
italics. 

*  This  chapter  was  prompted  by  the  hostile  measures  of  the  late  adminis- 
tration against  our  Indians,  and  it  first  appeared  in  the  American  Ecclesiastical 
Review,  October  4,  1892.  Being,  in  the  main,  but  a  resume  of  what  is  con- 
tained in  the  foregoing  pages,  its  proper  place  is  right  here,  where  it  comes 
in  fittingly,  as  the  closing  chapter  of  the  first  part  of  our  work. 


268        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

That  everyone  may  be  fully  able  to  judge  for  himself  of  its 
importance,  we  need  but  state  the  simple  fact  that  of  the  Indian 
youth  from  twelve  to  fourteen  years  of  age  in  Montana,  nine- 
tenths  are  Catholics  and  in  actual  attendance  at  Catholic  schools. 
This  we  know  to  be  perfectly  true,  and  but  a  glance  at  the  official 
school  tables  for  Montana  will  convince  anyone  of  the  accuracy 
of  the  statement.  With  regard  to  the  Jocko  or  Flat  Head  reser- 
vation, the  case  does  not  even  admit  of  one  solitary  exception, 
all  Indian  youth  there  being  practical  Catholics. 

It  is,  therefore,  evident,  that  the  new  school  at  Fort  Shaw  will 
have  very  few  pupils,  or  that  if  it  is  to  have  many,  nine-tenths 
of  the  number  must  be  drawn  from  the  Catholic  Indian  children 
in  actual  attendance  at  Catholic  schools.  In  the  former  case,  the 
school  is  not  needed  and  has  no  reason  for  existence:  in  the 
latter,  it  is  an  outrage  and  a  crying  injustice  against  helpless 
Catholic  Indians.  Will  the  Honorable  Commissioner  consent  to 
the  appointment  of  a  priest,  as  spiritual  director  of  his  Fort 
Shaw  institution?  Will  he  have  a  Catholic  chaplain  to  instruct 
those  children  in  their  faith  and  administer  to  them  the  comforts 
of  their  religion  ?  One  might  sooner  expect  lambs  to  be  protected 
by  wolves,  than  see  the  ministrations  of  Catholicity  extended  to 
these  youth  under  officials  of  the  Morgan  and  Dorchester  type. 

The  Fort  Shaw  school  is  meant  to  be  a  non-sectarian  institution, 
we  are  told,  and,  of  course,  it  must  needs  be  conducted  as  such. 
And  we  know  well  what  that  means.  It  not  only  means  that  all 
Catholic  instruction  is  to  be  excluded  from  it,  but  it  means  worse 
conditions  still.  Catholic  children  will  have  their  religion  posi- 
tively untaught  to  them. 

The  Indian  Agents  throughout  Montana  are  officially  directed 
to  "co-operate  heartily  in  the  efforts  to  secure  a  large  attendance 
of  pupils  for  Fort  Shaw."  This  explains  itself  and  needs  no 
comment  at  our  hands.  We  can  easily  surmise  what  this 
co-operation  is  likely  to  be;  it  will  be  both  hearty  and  very 
heartless  at  the  same  time.  We  cannot  doubt  it.  "Three  acres 
and  a  cow"  will  be  the  price  paid  Indian  parents,  to  have  them 
consent  to  the  "promotion"  of  their  Catholic  children  to  this  new 
school,  or  to  some  other  of  the  same  kind.  We  know  of  a  case 
where  "three  cows,"  instead  of  one,  was  the  consideration  for 
such  a  bargain :  and  by  the  irony  of  things,  the  youth  is  just  one 


AN  IMPENDING  CALAMITY  269 

of  those  doubtful,  "amphibious"  Crees,  who  are  Canadian  sub- 
jects when  attending  a  Catholic  contract  school,  but  who,  on 
entering  a  non-sectarian  Government  school,  become  at  once  full- 
fledged  and  native  born  American  Indians.  But  what  the  "three 
acres  and  a  cow"  method,  what  bribes  and  well-known  Indian 
"tips"  may  fail  to  do,  the  "suspension  of  rations,"  that  is,  the 
starving  out  process,  is  sure  to  accomplish.  An  empty  stomach. 
we  all  know,  is  a  very  strong  argument,  and  its  reasonings  are 
never  without  a  peculiarly  convincing  force  of  their  own. 

The  new  administration  started  out  with  the  publicly  avowed 
purpose  of  discontinuing  all  Indian  contract  schools,  and  replac- 
ing them  with  others  of  the  non-sectarian  kind.  That  this  policy 
was  inaugurated,  and  is  continued  in  by  the  administration, 
principally,  to  do  away  with  the  Catholic  Indian  schools,  is  no 
longer  a  matter  of  guess  or  doubt ;  it  is  on  record  and  blazoned 
conspicuously  all  along  its  course  and  tenure  of  office. 

It  is  true  that  in  the  23rd  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of 
Indian  Commissioners  for  1891,  page  134,  we  find  the  following 
declaration  from  Commissioner  Morgan : 

In  reference  to  the  contract  schools,  the  present  policy  of  the  Gov- 
ernment is  to  preserve  the  statu  quo  and  not  interfere  with  the 
schools  already  established.  It  will  allow  matters  to  take  their  own 
course. 

But  these  promises  were  not  made  to  keep  and,  as  shown  by 
the  facts,  they  were  soon  cast  to  the  winds.  The  bulldozing  by 
the  Commissioner  of  the  Catholic  Indian  Mission  Bureau  estab- 
lished by  the  Catholic  Hierarchy,  to  look  after  the  school  and 
mission  interests  of  our  Indians;  the  diminished  number  of 
allowed  pupils  in  Catholic  Indian  contract  schools;  the  erection 
— unnecessarily  and  at  a  lavish  expenditure  of  the  people's  money 
— of  non-sectarian  Government  schools,  side  by  side  with,  and  in 
opposition  to  the  Mission  schools ;  school  inspectors,  supervisors, 
superintendents,  of  pronounced  anti-Catholic  propensities,  whose 
principal  duty  would  seem  to  be  to  find  fault  with  and  run  down 
whatever  is  Catholic,  and  the  conduct  of  several  of  whom  has 
been  at  times  more  noticeable  for  coarseness  and  shocking 
vulgarity,  than  polite,  gentlemanly  breeding;  all  this,  with  more 
that  could  be  added,  is  evidence  enough  that  the  statu  quo  is  not 
being  preserved,  and  that  Catholic  Indian  schools  are  not  only 


270        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

interfered  with,  but  gradually  done  away  with,  by  a  policy  that 
aims  at  rendering  their  continuance  practically  impossible. 

And  yet,  despite  all  the  odds  against  them,  these  schools  are 
well  conducted,  efficient  and  successful  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
superior  to  the  non-sectarian  Indian  schools  under  the  charge  of 
Government  officials.  And  this  they  are  not  merely  in  the 
opinion  of  friends,  but  in  the  eyes  and  testimony  of  public 
officials,  who  frequently  have  been  detailed  to  inspect  them  and 
who  were  prejudiced  and  unfriendly  rather  than  partial.  It  is 
no  secret,  that  these  very  same  officials  have  held  up  time  and 
again  our  Catholic  Indian  schools  as  models  and  examples  for 
imitation,  and  that  they  have  directed  matrons,  teachers  and  other 
attaches  of  Government  Indian  schools  to  acquaint  themselves 
with  and  follow  Catholic  methods.  A  like  testimony  from  such 
witnesses  is  more  than  an  unlooked-for  compliment  paid  to  our 
Indian  schools ;  it  is  their  best  vindication. 

Let  the  Honorable  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  make 
known  to  the  American  public  and  to  the  world  at  large  the 
official  reports  bearing  on  the  point  at  issue,  and  which  he  has 
received  from  Montana  during  his  term  of  office.  Let  him 
publish  these  reports  verbatim  et  literatim,  without  doctoring 
them  and  without  a  jot  or  tittle  being  added  to,  or  taken  from 
them,  and  we  and  every  Catholic  in  the  land  will  abide  con- 
tentedly by  the  verdict.  If,  in  the  testimony  of  such  official 
documents,  Catholic  contract  schools  in  Montana  are  not  superior 
to  every  non-sectarian  Indian  school  of  the  Government  in  every- 
thing substantial  in  education,  that  is,  in  morals,  good  manners, 
discipline,  industry,  diligence,  efficiency  as  well  as  proficiency, 
we  shall  be  the  first  to  cry  them  down  and  to  call  on  our  teachers 
and  missionaries  to  give  up  and  abandon  the  field. 

But  that  all  may  know  still  better  the  real  merits  of  the  case 
and  the  actual  state  of  Catholic  Indian  education  in  Montana,  it 
is  necessary  to  particularize  somewhat.  Hence  we  shall  summa- 
rize, as  briefly  as  possible,  what  has  been  said  in  the  preceding 
pages ;  we  shall  present,  in  other  words,  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the 
whole  subject,  schools,  teachers,  pupils,  improvements,  etc.,  with 
such  other  additional  information  as  may  be  of  interest,  or  may 
help  to  a  better  understanding  of  the  whole  question  before  us. 

The  following  are  the  schools : 


AN  IMPENDING  CALAMITY  271 

St.  Ignatius,  on  the  Jocko  or  Flat  Head  Reservation,  in  West- 
ern Montana.  It  was  founded  in  1864.  Free-will  offerings  or 
contributions  kept  it  up  for  several  years  previous  to  its  becoming 
a  contract  school.  During  the  summer  months  the  teachers  went 
from  one  mining  camp  to  another,  begging  for  their  own  and 
their  Indian  pupils'  subsistence  from  the  kind-hearted  miners  of 
Montana.  It  has  three  departments,  including  the  kindergarten, 
and  a  branch  school  at  Arlee.  All  told,  and  dependencies 
included,  it  counts  some  400  pupils  in  attendance  and  possesses 
accommodations  for  two  hundred  more. 

It  first  became  a  contract  school  in  1876,  with  an  allowed 
number  of  40  pupils  at  the  rate  of  $108  a  year  per  pupil.  In 
1884  the  number  was  increased  to  75,  and  sometime  later,  to  150. 
Since  1889,  Congress  has  made  a  distinct  annual  appropriation 
for  the  schools  at  St.  Ignatius,  raising  the  number  of  pupils  to 
an  even  300,  and  the  per  capita  to  $150.  And  this  favorable 
legislation  was  brought  about  by  the  action  and  vote  of  fair- 
minded  non-Catholics,  the  number  of  Catholics  in  the  U.  S. 
Senate  and  in  the  House  of  Representatives  being  very  small. 

The  schools  count  thirty-three  unsalaried  instructors;  while 
a  number  of  little  papooses  in  the  kindergarten  receive  no  support 
from  the  Government.  For  they  are  under  four  years  of  age, 
and  for  all  such  no  allowance  is  made  by  the  Indian  Department. 

The  improvements  at  St.  Ignatius  in  church  and  school  build- 
ings, furniture,  equipment,  agricultural  implements,  outhouses, 
machinery,  etc.,  cannot  fall  short  of  the  estimated  value  of 
$180,000.  This  is  mostly  the  result  of  the  combined  efforts  of 
the  frugal  and  economical  habits  of  the  founders  and  their 
successors  in  continuing  the  work,  whether  as  managers,  teachers 
or  assistants. 

Among  the  factors  contributing  to  the  success  of  this  institu- 
tion, may  also  be  reckoned  the  comparative  freedom  from 
interference  which  it  has  enjoyed  so  far.  Obviously,  even  bigotry 
and  prejudice  seem  to  have  had  some  respect  for  the  good  work 
done  among  these  people. 

This,  however,  is  no  longer  to  be  the  case.  Only  a  short  time 
ago  a  number  of  pupils  were  ordered  dropped  from  the  rolls,  on! 
the  plea  that  they  were  not  American  subjects,  but  Crees  from 
across  the  border.     On  the  same  ground,  payment  also  is  with- 


272        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

held  for  a  number  of  pupils  in  attendance  at  other  Mission 
schools.  Yet  the  children  in  question  were  all  born  on  American 
soil,  where  the  parents  have  had  their  permanent  residence  for 
the  last  twenty-five  years.  Furthermore,  omitting  that  these 
selfsame  pupils  were  not  objected  to  in  the  past,  it  is  a  fact  that 
several  of  them  have  brothers  or  sisters  in  Government  institu- 
tions, without  any  objection  whatever  being  raised  against  them 
on  the  score  that  they  are  not  American  subjects.  Is  not  this 
using  two  measures? 

The  second  school  is  that  of  St.  Peter,  near  Fort  Shaw,  in 
northern  Montana,  established  about  the  same  time  as  the  one 
of  St.  Ignatius.  Its  aim  is  to  educate  the  youth  of  the  Indian 
tribes  living  in  that. northern  country,  the  Blackfeet  or  Piegans. 

This  school  has  met  with  considerable  opposition  on  the  part 
of  non-Catholic  clergymen  and  Indian  Agents.  Furthermore,  by 
the  reduction  of  the  reservation,  the  school  has  been  left  some 
seventy-five  miles  away  from  where  the  tribe  is  now  located. 
These  and  other  difficulties  could  not  but  hamper  the  progress 
of  the  school.  It  had  to  be  closed  at  the  beginning  of  the  Piegan 
trouble,  1866;  but  was  re-opened  at  its  termination,  some  eight 
years  after. 

It  became  a  contract  school  in  1885,  with  some  thirty  pupils 
in  attendance,  the  number  gradually  increasing  to  over  200.  Of 
these  190  are  provided  for  by  the  Indian  Department  at  the  rate 
of  $9  a  month  per  pupil.  The  school  can  accommodate  today  400 
children :  the  buildings  are  substantial,  being  stone,  and  supplied 
with  all  educational  facilities.  The  estimated  value  of  these 
improvements  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  $70,000.  Apart  from 
some  $10,000  indebtedness,  the  remainder  has  accrued  from  the 
same  sources  mentioned  with  regard  to  St.  Ignatius.  The  staff 
consists  of  twenty  unsalaried  persons. 

St.  Labre,  among  the  Tongue  River  Cheyennes,  in  south- 
eastern Montana,  is  the  third  Catholic  school,  and  was  founded 
in  1884.  It  is  a  contract  school,  with  an  allowed  number  of  40 
pupils,  though  it  could  easily  accommodate  about  twice  as  many. 
The  funds  for  its  establishment  were  obtained  by  the  Rt.  Rev. 
Bishop  Brondel  in  a  lecturing  tour  through  some  of  the  eastern 
States  undertaken  by  him  for  that  very  purpose.  The  improve- 
ments are  valued  at  $15,000.     Perhaps  no  other  Catholic  Indian 


AN  IMPENDING  CALAMITY  273 

school  has  had  to  contend  with  greater  difficulties  than  St.  Labre. 
Still,  if  not  all  that  it  would  have  been  under  more  favorable 
circumstances,  its  progress  has  been  gratifying.  The  Govern- 
ment schools  for  the  same  tribe  of  Indians  are  located  at  the 
Agency,  some  twenty  miles  off. 

St.  Paul,  among  the  Assiniboines  and  Gros  Ventres,  in  north- 
eastern Montana,  comes  fourth.  Its  establishment  dates  from 
1886,  as  previous  to  that  time  Catholics  were  not  permitted  to 
do  any  school  and  mission  work  among  these  Indians.  This  was 
also  the  case  with  the  Blackfeet  and  Crows,  though  all  these  tribes 
had  asked  for  years  to  have  Catholic  teachers  among  them. 

Borrowed  capital  supplied  most  of  the  funds  for  the  erection 
of  buildings,  which  are  being  supplemented  by  new  and  sub- 
stantial additions.  The  total  cost  of  these  improvements,  includ- 
ing those  under  way,  borders  on  $40,000.  The  school  has  a 
contract  from  the  Government  for  the  education  of  145  Indian 
children  at  the  per  capita  of  $108  a  year.  The  actual  attendance, 
however,  has  been  all  along  in  excess  of  the  number  provided 
for  by  the  Indian  Department.  The  staff  is  composed  of  fifteen 
teachers  and  assistants,  none  of  whom  draws  any  salary.  The 
Government  schools  for  the  same  Indians  are  located  at  the 
Agencies  of  Fort  Peck  and  Fort  Belknap. 

Fifth  in  turn  is  St.  Xavier,  on  the  Crow  reservation,  in 
southern  Montana.  It  was  begun  in  1886-87  and  has  been 
brought  up  to  a  remarkable  degree  of  efficiency  for  the  short 
time  it  has  been  in  existence.  It  has  a  Government  contract  for 
the  schooling  of  120  youth,  while  it  could  accommodate  twice  as 
many.  Buildings  and  equipment  have  cost  $48,000.  The 
teachers  and  assistants  who  lend  their  services  at  St.  Xavier's  and 
its  dependency,  on  Pryor  Creek,  without  any  salary,  number 
twenty-one. 

The  funds  for  the  establishment  of  this  school  and  that  of  Holy 
Family — of  which  we  shall  speak  directly — were  furnished  by 
the  Misses  Drexel,  of  Philadelphia.  These  noble  American 
ladies,  the  honor  of  their  sex  and  their  country,  have  taken  the 
greatest  interest  in  assisting  and  promoting  mission  and  school 
work  among  the  Indians  and  our  colored  people.  Their  bene- 
factions in  this  regard  have  been  both  unstinted  and  without 
number.    Indeed,  not  content  with  giving  to  the  cause  her  princely 


274        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

fortune,  Miss  Katharine  Drexel,  now  Mother  Katharine,  is  giving 
to  it  today  her  very  life.  For  she  has  just  founded  a  Community 
of  brave  American  women,  whose  ambition  is  to  devote  them- 
selves to  the  welfare  of  the  poorest  of  human  beings  on  earth 
and  the  most  despised  by  the  pride  and  sensual  effeminacy  of  the' 
age,  the  Indian  and  the  Negro.  Verily,  the  hand  of  the  Lord  is 
not  shortened !  And  Mother  Katharine's  humble  work  may  yet 
stand  out  and  be  acclaimed  as  the  heroic  deed  of  the  century. 

There  only  remains  to  mention  the  last  school,  that  of  the  Holy 
Family,  in  northern  Montana.  Great  opposition  was  made  to 
starting  it,  the  Catholic  missionaries  being  even  ordered  off  the 
reservation  by  the  despot  in  charge  of  that  Agency.  Authority 
to  proceed  with  the  school  was  granted  by  Congress.  After  the 
erection  of  all  needed  accommodations,  the  funds  for  which 
were  furnished  by  the  Misses  Drexel,  of  Philadelphia,  an  allow- 
ance for  the  education  of  one  hundred  Indian  children  was  asked 
from  the  Government.  A  bill  to  that  end,  introduced  by  Hon. 
T.  H.  Carter,  Delegate  from  Montana,  passed  the  House,  and 
also  the  Senate,  although  because  of  the  opposition  of  the  Indian 
Office  the  Senate  Committee  had  reported  it  adversely.* 

The  school  is  conducted  by  twelve  teachers  and  assistants  who 
receive  no  compensation  or  salary  for  their  services.  The  pupils 
in  attendance  number  120,  of  whom  100  are  supported  by  the 
Government  at  the  rate  of  $125  per  head  a  year.  The  improve- 
ments, with  equipment,  furniture  and  all  the  rest,  have  cost  in 
round  figures,  $30,000. 

Considering  its  short  existence,  the  results  of  the  Holy  Family 
school  are  very  gratifying. 

There  are,  then,  in  Montana — including  the  kindergarten  at 
St.  Ignatius  and  the  two  dependencies  at  Arlee  and  on  Pryor 
Creek — nine  Catholic  Indian  schools,  with  accommodations  for 
some  1,400  pupils,  at  an  outlay — for  buildings,  equipment, 
upkeep,  repairs — of  more  than  $400,000,  which  the  Catholic 
Church  contributes  to  the  cause  of  Indian  education.     And  what 

r 

about  the  personnel  required  to  teach  and  care  for  the  one 
thousand  and  more  Indian  pupils  in  actual  attendance  at  these 
schools?  Are  the  services  of  managers,  guardians,  instructors, 
less  appreciable,  because  nine-tenths  of  those  who  devote  them- 

*  See  Congressional  Record,  July  25,  1890. 


AN  IMPENDING  CALAMITY  275 

selves  to  the  work  do  so  with  no  eye  to  material  compensation 
of  any  kind,  but  altogether  gratuitously? 

As  to  the  teachers  and  managers,  it  may  be  well  to  remark 
further,  that  those  among  them  who  hail  from  a  foreign  country 
have  become  American  citizens  by  choice  and  naturalization,  or 
have  declared  their  intention  to  become  such,  as  soon  as  the  legal 
formalities  will  allow  them,  and  that  they  all  speak  English 
fluently  and  correctly,  though  no  one  can  expect  them  to  speak 
the  language  with  the  accent  of  the  native  born.  Unsalaried 
male  teachers  or  guardians  are  all  members  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus;  while  of  the  unsalaried  teachers  and  guardians  of  the 
other  sex,  fourteen  belong  to  the  Sisters  of  Providence,  and  the 
others  to  the  Ursuline  Order. 

Besides  English,  not  a  few  of  the  teachers  speak  also  the 
Indian  languages  of  the  pupils  under  their  charge.  This  is  a 
decided  advantage.  For  many  of  the  Indian  youth  to  be 
educated  are  grown-ups,  albeit  infants  in  most  of  the  things  in 
which  they  need  training.  Hence  they  need  more  talking  to  and 
more  reasoning  with  than  would  be  the  case  were  they  less 
advanced  in  age. 

We  incline  to  think  that  Commissioner  Morgan  is  fully  aware 
of  this,  and  our  surmise  rests  on  what  he  lays  down  anent  the 
qualifications  desired  in  the  pupils  to  be  transferred  to  the  non- 
sectarian  school  at  Fort  Shaw.  "The  pupils,"  says  the  Com- 
missioner, "should  have  a  fair  knowledge  of  English."  And 
again :  "It  is  desirable  that  they  should  have  been  in  attendance 
at  some  other  school."  There  can  be  no  question  about  it,  and 
it  is  all  very  clever.  But  if  we  understand  the  honorable  gentle- 
man, this  simply  means,  that  the  most  laborious  and  most 
difficult  part  of  the  work,  turning  these  wild  children  of  the 
forest  into  human  beings  first,  making  them  tractable  and  docile, 
and  giving  them  a  fair  knowledge  of  English,  should  be  done 
preferably  by  others.  With  these  previous  qualifications,  the  rest 
becomes  much  easier.  Furthermore,  the  work  of  others  could 
be  thus  paraded  as  the  result  of  his  own  system  by  the 
Commissioner. 

The  attendance  at  these  schools  is  about  equally  divided 
between  the  two  sexes.  But,  apart  from  a  general  superintendent, 
the  male  and  female  departments  are  entirely  separated,  each 


276        INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

having  its  distinct  and  separate  management,  separate  buildings, 
separate  grounds.  Each  department  has  also  its  own  teachers, 
men  teaching  the  boys,  and  women  the  girls,  except  in  the  kinder- 
garten, where  the  wee  lords  of  creation  and  the  little  girls  are 
taught  together  by  the  same  Sister. 

To  the  Honorable  Commissioner  and  others  who  find  their 
ideal  in  co-education,  this  separation  of  the  sexes  savors  too  much 
of  monasticism.  It  likely  does,  and  we  accept  the  criticism  with 
entire  tranquillity  of  soul.  But  we  must  observe  at  the  same  time, 
that  the  managers  of  our  Catholic  Indian  schools  are  all  men  of 
some  experience,  and  know  something  of  human  nature  in 
general,  and  of  Indian  nature  in  particular.  Nor  can  we  doubt 
that  the  Honorable  Commissioner,  too,  must  have  had  by  this 
time  opportunities  and  evidence  enough,  to  judge  for  himself 
which  of  the  two,  the  mixed,  or  the  unmixed  educational  system 
is  preferable  and  more  conducive  to  good  morals.  We  could 
accentuate  this  paragraph  with  facts  and  figures  not  unknown  to 
the  Indian  Department ;  but  do  not  care  to  soil  our  fingers.  We 
pass  on,  instead,  to  add  a  word  on  the  relative  cost  of  Catholic 
Indian  contract  schools  as  compared  with  the  schools  conducted 
by  Government  officials.  And  for  this  we  have  but  to  refer  to 
official  documents  and  figures.* 

As  declared  by  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  the 
average  cost  of  an  Indian  pupil  in  the  Government  schools  is 
$175  a  year.  This  is  for  support  only,  and  to  it  must  be  added 
the  pro  rata  of  the  amounts  paid  out  in  salaries,  about  as  follows: 

One   Superintendent    $i,500 

One  Clerk     1,200 

One  Principal  Teacher    1,200 

One  Industrial   Teacher    1,000 

Two  Assistant  Teachers,  $600  each   1,200 

One  Matron   7°° 

One  Assistant  Matron    600 

One  Seamstress    180 

One  Cook  and  Assistant 820 

One  Laundress  and  Assistant 630 

One  Carpenter   9°° 

♦See  Congressional  Record,  July  25,  1890.     Also  Report  of  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Indian  Affairs  for  the  same  year. 


AN  IMPENDING  CALAMITY  277 

One  Blacksmith  and  Wagon-maker    900 

One  Shoe  and  Harness-maker 900 

One  Tailor    900 

One  Engineer  and  Janitor 720 

One  Hospital  Steward   \ 

One  Baker  >    330 

One  Butcher  ) 

According  to  this  table  an  aggregate  of  some  $13,000  is  paid 
out  yearly  in  salaries  only  in  a  Government  Indian  school  con- 
taining between  150  to  160  pupils.  To  it  must  be  added  cost  of 
buildings,  equipment,  furniture,  repairs,  tools,  implements,  etc. 

The  Catholic  Indian  contract  schools  in  Montana  receive  an 
average  of  $120  and  sixty  odd  cents  a  year  per  pupil;  and  this 
amount  covers  everything,  buildings,  equipment,  repairs,  board 
and  salary  of  teachers,  maintenance  and  clothing  of  pupils,  books, 
stationery,  tools  and  all  the  rest.  It  is  made  evident  from  all 
this,  that  an  Indian  pupil  being  educated  in  a  Government  school 
costs  the  Department  more  than  twice  the  amount  it  pays  for 
one  educated  in  a  Catholic  contract  school. 

But,  then,  in  the  words  of  the  Honorable  Commissioner :  "The 
United  States  with  an  overflowing  treasury  has  at  its  command 
unlimited  means  and  can  undertake  and  complete  this  work" 
(this  kind  of  extravagantly  expensive  Indian  education)  "with- 
out feeling  it  to  be  in  any  way  a  burden." 

CONCLUSION    OF    FIRST    PART. 

But  enough  of  this.  Let  us  conclude  this  first  part  of  our 
historv. 

From  the  tiny  mustard  seed  first  planted  in  the  wilds  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  among  the  natives,  just  half  a  century  ago  by 
Father  De  Smet,  through  God's  grace,  has  sprung  up  a  good- 
sized  tree,  whose  branches,  spreading  all  over  our  fair  State  and 
far  beyond  her  borders,  have  given  shelter  to,  and  saved  from  the 
beak  and  talons  of  the  infernal  vultures  many  precious  and 
immortal  souls. 

Wonderful  as  it  may  seem,  the  energy  of  the  bit  of  leaven 
hidden  in  the  simple  hearts  of  the  Flat  Heads,  has  been  felt  not 
only  throughout  the  whole  of  Montana  and  adjacent  States  and 
Territories,  but  also  along  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  on  the 


278       INDIAN  AND  WHITE  IN  THE  NORTHWEST— PART  I 

Pacific  Coast  and  even  in  frozen  Alaska.  For,  not  a  few  of  the 
apostolic  men  who  have  labored  or  are  laboring  in  those  fields, 
can  trace  their  missionary  calling  to  the  movement  toward 
Christianity  that  originated  among  the  handful  of  remarkable 
Indians,  misnamed  Flat  Heads. 


PART  II. 

THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  THE  WHITES 

IN  MONTANA. 


Chapter  I. 

Montana's  topography,  climatic  conditions,  resources, 
explorers  and  first  white  settlers. 

IT  MAY  be  well  to  state  by  way  of  preface  that  this  part  of  our 
task,  namely,  the  history  of  Catholicity  among  the  whites  in 
Montana,  strictly  speaking,  is  confined  within  the  short  period 
of  three  decades.  The  reason  is  obvious;  in  what  is  today  the 
State  of  Montana  there  were  no  whites,  we  mean  white  settlers, 
thirty  years  ago. 

Montana  lies  between  Dakota,  Idaho,  Wyoming  and  the 
British  Possessions,  covering  146,080  square  miles,  and  ranks 
third  in  area  among  the  States  of  the  Union.  It  sits,  as  it  were, 
astraddle  the  main  Range  of  the  Rockies,  by  which  it  is  divided 
into  two  halves  or  sections  east  and  west,  that  to  the  east  being 
somewhat  larger  than  the  one  to  the  west.  Hence  its  natural 
division  into  Eastern  and  Western  Montana;  a  point  of  much 
importance  for  our  subject.  For  though  this  natural  division  did 
not  hinder  Montana  from  remaining  one  civil  commonwealth, 
ecclesiastically  it  split  it  in  two,  as  will  appear  further  on. 

The  part  detached  from  Idaho  in  the  formation  of  our  new 
Territory,  that  is,  Western  Montana,  lies  between  the  main 
Divide  and  the  Bitter  Root  Mountains,  the  latter  defining  its 
boundaries  to  the  west  for  a  considerable  distance.  Though  a 
mountainous  region,  some  of  the  prettiest  and  most  fertile 
valleys  are  found  in  this  section.  Of  these  the  Bitter  Root,  the 
Hell's  Gate,  the  Jocko,  the  Flat  Head  Lake,  and  the  Big  Black- 
foot  valleys,  all  in  Missoula  County;  and  the  valleys  of  Deer 
Lodge,  Flint  Creek  and  Nevada  Creek,  in  the  County  of  Deer 
Lodge,  are  the  principal  ones.  There  is  an  abundance  of  timber 
and  an  unfailing  supply  of  water,  both  clear  and  wholesome. 
The  many  beautiful  streams  that  irrigate  the  whole  section,  come 
down  from  the  west  slope  of  the  continental  Divide  or  some  of 
its  spurs,  and  from  the  east  side  of  the  Bitter  Root  Mountains, 


282        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

and  meeting  at  one  point  or  another,  mingle,  to  empty,  finally, 
into  the  great  Columbia. 

Eastern  Montana  is  enclosed  between  the  main  Rockies  and 
the  border  lines  of  the  British  Possessions,  Dakota,  Idaho,  and 
Wyoming,  and  embraces  the  plains  and  table-lands  that  form 
nearly  three-fifths  of  the  whole  Territory.  What  little  timber  is 
found  in  this  eastern  section  grows  on  the  slope  and  spurs  of  the 
main  Divide;  apart  from  the  scrubby  cotton  wood  that  fringes 
the  banks  of  some  of  the  streams,  the  plains  and  table-lands  are 
treeless.  The  land,  however,  is  generally  good,  particularly  in  the 
northern  part,  where  the  soil  is  deep  and  of  the  best.  Owing  to 
this,  what  is  today  an  immense  expanse  of  wild,  rolling  prairies 
may  yet  become,  by  means  of  irrigation,  the  granary  of  the. 
Northwest  in  the  no  distant  future. 

In  Eastern  Montana  the  Missouri  has  its  source,  that  is,  near 
Gallatin  it  receives  both  being  and  name,  as  here  the  Madison, 
the  Gallatin,  and  the  Jefferson  come  together  and  unselfishly 
cease  to  be,  to  give  it  birth.  From  this  point  the  mighty  river 
starts  on  its  course  toward  the  Atlantic,  and  every  stream,  large 
or  small,  becomes  its  tributary. 

Montana's  climate  is  dry  and  crisp;  hence,  bracing  and  invigor- 
ating. The  average  annual  temperature  is  higher  than  in  the 
same  latitude  further  east,  and  ranges  from  41°,  in  the  north  and 
coldest  part,  to  47°  in  the  lower  valleys,  south  and  west.  The 
variations  in  temperature,  however,  are  great  and  at  times  very 
rapid,  the  thermometer  falling  to  40  or  50  degrees  below  zero 
in  the  severest  part  of  the  winter,  and  rising  in  the  warmest 
summer  months  to  92°  or  940.  Such  extremes,  however,  rarely 
extend  over  a  week  without  a  change.  Throughout  the  summer, 
even  after  the  warmest  days,  the  evenings  are  cool  and  pleasant. 
Snow  falls  to  a  considerable  depth  on  the  mountains,  in  the 
northwestern  part,  especially;  but  it  is  light  in  the  valleys,  and 
particularly  in  those  to  the  south,  where  cattle  and  horses  winter 
without  shelter;  while  the  biting  cold  of  greater  altitudes  is 
generally  much  less  felt,  owing  to  the  dryness  of  the  atmosphere. 

The  average  rainfall  through  the  year  is  rather  small.  The 
valleys  are  fertile,  but  require  some  irrigation;  while  the  prairies 
and  table-lands  in  northeastern  and  southeastern  Montana  offer 
the  best  kind  of  pasturage  for  cattle,  horses  and  sheep  in  the 


EXPLORERS  AND  FIRST   WHITE  SETTLERS  283 

wholesome  and  nutritious  grasses,  commonly  known  as  bunch 
and  buffalo  grass,  with  which  they  are  covered.  Gold-bearing 
gravels,  gold  lodes,  silver  and  copper  ores,  ruby  and  sapphire 
beds,  as  well  as  coal  fields,  have  made  Montana  one  of  the  richest 
States  of  the  Union  in  mineral  wealth.  Hence,  Montana's 
principal  industries,  namely,  gold,  silver  and  copper  mining, 
stock  raising,  farming,  and  wool  growing.  Lumbering  also  is 
carried  on  to  no  small  extent  in  the  western  part  of  the  State. 

But  let  us  now  see  who  were  the  first  pale  faces  that  came  into 
the  country;  that  is,  let  us  say  a  word  about  the  exploration  of 
Montana  and  its  first  settlement  by  the  whites. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  18th  century,  the  French  authori- 
ties were  bent  upon  discovering  an  overland  route  from  the 
Canadas  to  the  Western  or  Pacific  Ocean.  Though  active  opera- 
tions in  that  direction  may  be  said  to  have  commenced  only  from 
about  171 7,  the  first  expedition  up  the  Missouri  took  place  a  few 
years  earlier,  that  is,  in  1705;  while  three  years  later,  1708, 
another  party  of  Canadians  ascended  the  river  some  400  leagues 
without,  as  they  said,  discovering  its  source. 

A  new  impulse  to  the  enterprise  was  given  in  1737-38  by  the 
appointment  of  Pierre  Gautier  de  Varennes  de  La  Verendrye, 
who  then  organized  several  expeditions  to  attain  the  object  in 
view.  Jesuit  missionaries  were  usually  called  upon  by  the  leaders 
of  such  expeditions  to  accompany  the  explorers.  Hence  we  find 
Charles  Mesaiger,  Nicholas  de  Gonnor,  Michael  Guignas,  Pierre 
de  Jaunay,  Jean  Pierre  Aulneau,  and  Claude  Godefroy  Coquart 
associated  now  with  one,  now  with  another  of  these  parties. 

An  expedition  set  out  from  Montreal  in  1741,  led  by  de  La 
Verendrye  himself.  Two  of  his  sons  accompanied  him,  and 
Father  Claude  Godefroy  Coquart,  a  personal  friend  of  de  La 
Verendrye,  was  also  in  the  party.* 

Je  suis  parti  de  Montreal  avec  le  Reverend  Pere  Coquart  qu'on 
m'avait  donne  pour  missionaire. 

Dans   le  sejour  que  je  fus  oblige  de  faire  a  Missilimakinac,  la 

*  Thus  Monsieur  de  La  Verendrye  in  his  report,  which  he  wrote  while 
at  Fort  de  la  Reine.  And  this  establishes  beyond  the  shadow  of  a  doubt 
the  presence  of  Father  C  G.  Coquart,  S.J.,  in  that  expedition.  For  this  extract 
from  the  explorer's  Report  and  other  historical  items  in  this  part  of  our 
narrative,  we  are  indebted  to  Father  Arthur  E.  Jones,  S.J.,  of  St.  Mary's 
College,  Montreal. 


284        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

jalousie  s'attacha  contre  le  Pere  Coquart,  et  l'empecha  de  nous  suivre, 
au  grand  regret  de  tout  mon  monde  et  de  moi  en  particulier.  Ce- 
pendant,  par  les  invitations  de  Monsieur  le  General  nous  le  possedons 
aujourd'hui  au  grand  contentement  de  tout  le  monde. 

Passing  across  Lake  Superior  and  proceeding  in  a  westerly 
direction,  the  party  moved  along  Lake  Winnipeg,  and  then 
ascended  the  Assiniboine  River  as  far  as  Fort  La  Reine,  which 
had  been  erected  on  a  former  expedition  some  three  years  before. 
They  reached  the  fort  October  13,  1741.  Here  they  passed  the 
winter.  The  following  spring  the  party  resumed  their  journey, 
led  by  the  elder  son,  his  father,  the  elder  de  La  Verendrye, 
remaining  at  Fort  La  Reine.  They  set  out  April  29,  1742,  direct- 
ing their  course  toward  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  after  four- 
teen months  spent  in  their  tour,  July  2,  1743,  they  returned  to 
the  fort  whence  they  had  started. 

That  these  explorers  penetrated  into  what  is  now  the  State  of 
Montana,  the  report  of  the  expedition  leaves  no  room  for  doubt, 
though  at  this  date  and  with  the  scant  resources  of  information 
within  our  reach,  it  is  no  easy  matter  to  follow  them  in  their 
course  and  determine  exactly  what  spots  within  Montana's 
boundaries  they  may  have  reached.  From  the  evidence  before 
us  we  are  led  to  surmise,  that  after  leaving  Fort  La  Reine,  they 
proceeded  in  a  southwesterly  direction  and  came  to  the  country 
of  the  Mandans  on  the  Missouri.  They  now  crossed  over  to  the 
lower  Yellowstone  Valley,  and  then  by  some  of  the  tributaries 
of  the  Yellowstone  River,  traveled  toward  what  are  known  today 
as  the  Rose  Bud  Mountains,  whose  base  they  seem  to  have 
reached.  They  went  no  further ;  but  turning  back,  March  19, 
they  retraced  their  steps  to  the  Upper  Missouri.  Here  or  some- 
where in  that  vicinity  they  erected  on  an  eminence  a  monument, 
or  something  like  it,  of  loose  stones,  on  which  they  placed  a 
leaden  plate  bearing  the  Royal  Arms  of  the  King  of  France,  and 
named  the  spot  Beauharnois*  Descending  the  Missouri,  most 
likely  to  the  point  where  they  had  struck  it  on  their  outward 
journey,  they  returned  to  Fort  La  Reine,  whither,  as  already 
stated,  they  arrived  July  2,  1743.  It  is  therefore  very  probable 
that  the  explorers  saw  at  least  a  part  of  what  is  today  south- 
eastern Montana. 

*  No  such  landmark  has  so  far  been  discovered. 


EXPLORERS  AND  FIRST  WHITE  SETTLERS  285 

Granville  Stuart*  is  of  opinion  that  the  explorers  crossed  over 
the  Missouri  a  little  below  Fort  Berthold  of  our  day  and 
ascended  the  river  as  far  as  the  Gate  of  the  Mountains,  a  few' 
miles  from  Helena,  and  passing  over  to  the  Yellowstone  by 
Deep  or  Smith's  River  and  the  Head  of  the  Musselshell,  traveled 
up  Pryor's  Creek  and  through  Pryor's  Gap  to  Stinking  River, 
and  went  as  far  as  the  Wind  River  country,  whence  they  retraced 
their  steps  toward  the  Upper  Missouri.  It  seems  hardly  probable 
to  the  writer  that  they  came  so  far,  and  into  the  very  heart  of 
our  territory.  But  it  is  immaterial  which  course  the  explorers 
may  have  pursued  and  what  point  they  may  have  reached,  when 
the  fact  of  their  having  penetrated  into  the  country,  now  a  part 
of  our  State,  appears  to  be  established  beyond  any  reasonable 
doubt. 

Father  Claude  Godfrey  Coquartt  is  said  to  have  been  one  of 
the  leading  spirits  of  the  expedition  and,  as  in  all  probability,  he 
was  the  first  priest  who  ever  visited  this  part  of  the  Northwest, 
it  is  worth  noting  that  the  next  priest  who  came  to  our  moun- 
tains, one  hundred  years  after,  was  Father  P.  J.  De  Smet,  a 
confrere  of  Father  Coquart.  That  thus  two  Jesuits,  a  century 
apart  from  each  other,  should  have  been  the  first  two  Catholic 
missionaries  who  came  into  what  is  now  Montana,  is  interesting. 

Two  other  French  expeditions  followed  in  1752  and  1753. 
They  were  sent  out  by  Governor  Jonquierre,  one  in  the  direction 
of  Saskatchewan,  the  other  toward  the  regions  drained  by  the 
Missouri.  But  there  is  no  record  that  either  penetrated  into  the 
country  now  within  the  limits  of  our  State.  Some  of  the  men 
who  had  gone  out  on  the  two  last  expeditions  remained  behind, 
and  here  and  there  one  or  two  seem  to  have  found  their  way 
into  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  Upper  Missouri  and  along  the 
Yellowstone.  Small  groups  of  traders,  hunters,  trappers,  mostly 
French  people,  followed  the  exploring  parties  and,  urged  onward 
by  greed  or  love  of  adventure,  or  perhaps  both,  penetrated  still 
further  into  the  interior. 

*  Contributions  to  the  Montana  Historical  Society,  Vol,  I. 

f  Father  C.  G.  Coquart,  S.J.,  was  a  native  of  Melun,  France,  where  he  was 
born  February  2,  1706.  He  entered  the  Society  of  Jesus  May  14,  1726,  and 
in  1738  crossed  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  to  labor  on  the  Canadian  Missions,  where 
he  spent  27  years  of  his  life.  He  died  at  Chicoutimi  on  the  Upper  Saguenay 
July  4,  1765,  and  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  cemetery  of  St.  Francis  Xavier's 
Chapel. 


286        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

In  1803,  by  the  Louisiana  purchase,  the  whole  Northwest 
passed  from  the  dominion  of  France  to  that  of  the  United  States, 
and  the  year  following  Lewis  and  Clark  were  sent  out  by  the 
Government  to  explore  the  newly-acquired  continent,  for  such  it 
really  proved  to  be.  They  passed  through  what  is  now  Montana 
both  on  their  outward  and  return  journeys,  and  the  report  of 
their  explorations  from  St.  Louis  to  the  Pacific  Coast  came  to 
both  America  and  Europe  as  a  revelation.  The  vastness  of  the 
country  west  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific,  its  natural  attrac- 
tions of  river  and  mountain  scenery,  its  forests,  its  abundance 
of  game,  its  untold  resources  and  incalculable  possibilities,  soon 
aroused  the  interest  and  ambition  of  many,  and  the  tide  of 
emigration  set  in  toward  the  great  West. 

Though  most  of  the  travel  overland  had,  at  first,  for  its  object- 
ive point  the  coast  and  the  country  lying  on  the  western  slope 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  detached  bands  and  small  groups  of 
adventurers,  traders,  hunters  and  gold  seekers  would  occasionally 
take  a  more  northerly  direction  and  pass  through  the  mountain 
defiles  and  valleys  of  our  State,  where  they  would  tarry,  looking 
for  gold,  hunting,  trading,  or  simply  to  spend  the  winter. 

In  1859  the  Government  undertook  to  build  a  military  road 
from  Walla  Walla  to  Fort  Benton.  It  became  known  as  the 
Mullan  Road,  taking  the  name  of  Lieutenant  John  Mullan 
U.  S.  A.,  who  was  given  charge  of  the  work.  This  highway 
opened  up  the  part  of  western  Montana  through  which  lay  its 
course,  and  a  number  of  white  people  came  into  this  section. 
They  took  up  land  along  the  road,  settling  in  the  valley  watered 
by  what  is  known  today  as  the  Missoula  River,  some  forty  miles 
southwest  of  the  Indian  Mission  of  St.  Ignatius,  where  two  white 
settlements  sprang  up,  one  at  each  end  of  the  valley.  These 
were  the  first  settlements  of  whites  in  Montana,  and  we  shall 
speak  of  each  of  them  further  on. 

Some  of  the  whites  referred  to  in  the  preceding  paragraph, 
three  years  later,  that  is,  in  1862,  discovered  gold  in  two  places, 
namely,  at  Gold  Creek,  Deer  Lodge  County,  and  on  Grasshopper 
Creek,  Beaverhead  County,  and  emigration  into  Montana  may 
be  said  to  have  commenced  with  these  discoveries.  The  find 
soon  became  known  and  with  the  news  spreading  far  and  wide 
all  over  the  land,  gold  seekers  began  to  pour  in   from  every 


EXPLORERS  AND  FIRST   WHITE  SETTLERS  287 

direction.  New  discoveries  now  followed  one  another  in  quick 
succession,  rich  deposits  of  the  precious  metal  being  found  in 
the  gravels  of  many  creeks,  bars,  gulches,  both  east  and  west  of 
the  main  range.  Famous  Alder  Gulch,  afterward  Virginia  City, 
was  struck  in  February,  1863.  Pioneer,  Pike's  Peak,  Washing- 
ton, Blackfoot,  Bear  Gulch,  Silver  City,  Trinity,  Montana  Bar, 
Last  Chance,  now  Helena,  St.  Louis,  French  Bar,  Diamond, 
Crow  Creek,  with  many  other  placer  diggings  east  and  west  of 
the  continental  Divide,  are  all  familiar  names  in  the  mining  his- 
tory of  Montana,  and  were  all  discovered  within  less  than  a 
decade  of  years. 

While  the  great  majority  of  whites  at  this  point  of  our  narra- 
tive were  engaged  in  placer  mining,  or  "prospecting"  for  new 
diggings,  gold-bearing  quartz  and  silver  and  copper  leads,  others 
took  up  lands  here  and  there  in  the  more  favorable  localities,  and 
went  to  farming  or  stock-raising,  to  supply  the  demands  of  the 
mining  part  of  the  community.  Thus,  with  the  mining  camps, 
sprang  up  also  farming  and  stock-raising  settlements  in  the 
valleys  of  Deer  Lodge,  Flint  Creek  and  the  Bitter  Root,  on  the 
west  side  of  the  range;  and  east  of  it,  in  the  valleys  of  the 
Beaverhead,  the  Gallatin,  the  Madison,  the  Jefferson,  the  Boulder 
and  the  Missouri. 

In  the  first  periods  of  their  formation,  there  being  as  yet  no 
established  authority  in  these  settlements  and  mining  camps, 
the  people  were  a  law  unto  themselves.  Following  some  sort  of 
form  they  appointed  some  of  their  number  to  the  positions  of 
judge,  sheriff,  recorder  of  deeds,  etc.,  and  a  tribunal,  consisting 
of  one  or  more  persons,  elected  for  the  purpose,  passed  judg- 
ment on  all  controversies,  with  the  right  of  appeal  on  the  follow- 
ing Sunday  to  a  congregation  of  miners,  whose  decision  was 
final.  These  miners'  courts,  under  the  circumstances,  were  as 
legal  in  fact  as  they  were  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  order, 
and  dealt  out  justice  fairly,  expeditiously  and  at  very  little  cost 
to  the  community. 

But  along  with  the  sturdy,  upright  and  law-abiding  miner,  the 
auri  sacra  fames,  that  most  powerful  incentive  of  crime  on  the 
part  of  man  against  his  fellow-being,  was  bringing  into  the  coun- 
try a  large  number  of  ruffians,  and  deep-dyed  criminals,  who, 
loathing  occupation  of  an  honest  nature,  sought  to  enrich  them- 


288        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

selves  with  the  earnings  of  others  by  robbery  and  murder.  The 
"road  agent,"  as  he  was  called  by  euphonism,  made  his  appear- 
ance, and  not  merely  as  an  individual,  but  in  organized  bands, 
and  became  for  a  time  the  terror  of  the  new  community.  For, 
these  assassins  would  lie  in  wait  for  their  unsuspecting  victims 
and  spring  upon  them  pretty  much  as  the  tiger  upon  his  prey. 

The  situation  became  still  more  aggravated  by  the  fact  that 
some  of  the  men  appointed  by  the  miners  to  keep  order  were 
not  only  in  sympathy,  but  made  common  cause  with  the  evil- 
doers and  were  actually  at  their  head  and  their  leaders.  No 
one's  life  was  safe  from  the  attacks  of  these  malefactors.  In 
this  emergency,  a  number  of  upright  and  law-abiding  citizens, 
called  the  party  of  order,  banding  together,  formed  themselves 
into  a  Vigilance  Committe,  whose  object  was  to  bring  to  speedy 
and  summary  justice  to  all  evil-doers.* 

We  pass  on  to  what  seems  next  in  order,  namely,  the  organiza- 
tion of  Montana,  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  to  which  we  shall 
devote  the  following  chapter. 

*  Those  of  our  readers  who  may  feel  interested  in  the  stirring  events  that 
preceded  and  those  as  well  that  soon  followed  the  organization  of  that  famous 
"Committee  of  Vigilantes,"  are  referred  to  the  History  of  Montana,  Warner, 
Beers  &  Co.,  Chicago,  1886 ;  or  to  Vigilante  Days  and  Ways,  Langford,  Coply 
&  Co.,  Boston. 


Chapter  II. 
Montana's  civil  and  ecclesiastical  organization. 

BY  Act  of  Congress,  May  26,  1864,  Montana  was  carved  out 
of  Dakota,  Wyoming,  and  Idaho,  and  formed  into  a  distinct 
territory.  Twenty-five  years  later,  that  is,  February  22,  1889,  it 
became  one  of  the  States  of  the  Union. 

Its  white  population  in  1870,  just  four  years  after  becoming 
a  territory,  numbered  18,306.  The  census  of  1880  gave  it 
39,159  whites.  In  the  next  ten  years  the  number  grew  to 
132,159,  an  increase  of  93,000.  They  are  the  figures  of  the 
last  census. 

One  year  after  its  admission  into  the  Union,  Montana  con- 
sisted of  sixteen  counties,  and  the  number  of  whites  in  each 
county,  as  given  by  the  last  official  census,  was  as  follows  :* 

Beaverhead    4*655 

Cascade   8,755 

Custer    5,308 

Choteauf  4,74-1 

Dawson   2,056 

Deer  Lodge 15,155 

Fergus 3,514 

Gallatin   6,246 

Jefferson    6,026 

Lewis  and  Clarket ISM45 

*  We  give  the  counties  in  their  alphabetical  order  without  regard  to  the 
priority  of  their  formation,  and  give  them  as  they  were  at  the  time  of  our 
writing.    For  new  counties  have  since  been  formed  out  of  the  older  ones. 

f  An  Act  of  the  Legislature,  approved  March  5^  1903,  corrected  the  spelling 
of  this  County's  name,  and  made  it  read  Chouteau,  inserting  a  u  between 
the  o  and  t,  the  correct  name  of  the  Chouteau  family  of  St.  Louis,  whence 
the  name  was  taken.  But  the  town's  name  seems  to  have  been  left  Choteau, 
as  it  was  before. 

%  Clarke  with  a  final  e  was  part  of  the  official  and  legal  name  of  the  County 
of  Lewis  and  Clarke,  until  by  an  Act  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  of  Montana, 
approved  February  10,  1905,  the  name  of  said  county  was  made  to  read 
Lewis  and  Clark,  the  final  e  in  Clarke  being  cut  off. 


2go        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

Madison   4,692 

Meagher    4,749 

Missoula    14,427 

Park    6,881 

Silver  Bow   23,744 

Yellowstone   2,065 

Three  of  these  counties,  namely,  Deer  Lodge,  Missoula  and 
Silver  Bow,  with  a  portion  of  Beaverhead,  are  on  the  west  side 
of  the  range  and  constitute  western  Montana.  All  the  others,  to 
the  exception  of  a  part  of  Beaverhead  County,  are  on  the  east 
side,  and  form  the  eastern  section  of  our  State  or  Eastern 
Montana. 

Passing  now  to  the  Ecclesiastical  organization,  it  is  first  to  be 
observed  that  the  continental  Divide  of  the  Rocky  Mountains 
had  been  made  by  the  Holy  See  the  line  of  division  between 
the  Ecclesiastical  Province  of  St.  Louis  and  that  of  Oregon.  It 
hence  followed  that  all  the  country  east  of  the  main  range,  the 
dividing  line,  belonged  ecclesiastically  to  the  former,  and  the 
country  west  of  it  to  the  latter.  Consequently,  as  Montana  sat, 
as  it  were,  astraddle  the  line  of  division  or  the  main  range,  its 
western  section,  or  Western  Montana,  came  under  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  Metropolitan  of  Oregon,  whereas,  the  other  section, 
or  Eastern  Montana,  remained  subject  to  the  Metropolitan  of 
St.  Louis.  Thus,  the  new  territory,  while  civilly  one,  was  split 
in  two  ecclesiastically  by  the  dual  jurisdiction. 

It  is  further  to  be  observed  that  the  See  of  Oregon,  having 
sprung  from  that  of  Quebec,  retained  and  followed  the  discipline, 
laws  and  customs  of  the  parent  church.  Now,  some  of  these 
laws  and  customs  with  regard  to  feasts,  fasts  and  other  points 
of  church  discipline,  were  somewhat  different  from  those  that 
obtained  in  the  Province  of  St.  Louis.  Hence  the  church  disci- 
pline in  western  Montana  varied  from  that  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  State,  which  was  confusing  and  a  matter  of  no  little 
inconvenience  for  priests  and  people. 

In  1866,  the  Second  Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore  petitioned 
the  Holy  See  for  the  erection  of  two  Vicariates  Apostolic,  one  in 
Montana,  the  other  in  Idaho.  That  the  initiative  of  this  measure, 
so  far  at  least  as  it  referred  to  Montana,  is  due  to  General 


CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTICAL  ORGANIZATION  291 

Thomas  Meagher  admits  of  no  doubt,  and  has  become  a  matter 
of  history. 

Shortly  after  the  Civil  War,  General  Thomas  Francis  Meagher 
was  sent  to  Montana  as  Secretary  of  the  Territorial  Administra- 
tion and  acting  Governor  for  the  time  being.  Stopping  at  St. 
Paul  while  on  his  way  to  Montana,  he  had  several  conversations 
with  the  Rt.  Rev.  Thomas  L.  Grace,  the  Bishop  of  that  city, 
and  the  Most  Rev.  John  Ireland,  at  that  time  Archbishop  of  St. 
Paul,  and  laid  open  to  both  his  plans  for  the  spread  of  Holy 
Church  in  the  new  territory. 

It  was  his  wish,  he  repeatedly  stated,  to  colonize  Montana  with 
Catholics,  drawing  settlers  principally  from  Irishmen  in  Ireland  and 
Irishmen  in  America.  He  would  at  once  take  steps  to  secure  priests 
and  would  write  to  All  Hallows  College  in  Dublin  to  engage  there 
ten  students,  for  whose  tuition  he  would  make  himself  responsible. 
He  would,  furthermore,  he  added,  take  steps  to  have  a  Bishop  in 
Montana. 

With  regard  to  this  last  part  of  his  plans,  General  Meagher  was 
told  by  Bishop  Grace  that  the  proper  mode  of  procedure  was  to 
communicate  with  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis  under  whose  Metropolitan 
jurisdiction  the  greater  part  of  Montana  then  lay.  With  those  pur- 
poses of  General  Meagher  I  was  quite  conversant,  having  heard 
him  time  and  again,  and  having  encouraged  him  very  much  to  go 
forward  and  become  the  great  founder  of  the  Church  in  Montana. 

So  states  His  Grace,  the  Archbishop  of  St.  Paul,  in  a  letter  which 
he  very  kindly  sent  to  the  writer  under  date  of  January  29,  191 2. 
But  more.     We  learn  from  the  same  authority,  that 

During  the  Baltimore  Council  mentioned  above,  the  Archbishop 
of  St.  Louis  stated  to  the  Bishops  assembled,  that  he  had  letters  from 
General  Meagher  and  Mrs.  Meagher  earnestly  requesting  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  Bishop  for  Montana.  The  request  was  favorably  consid- 
ered by  the  Archbishop  himself  and  on  its  strength  he  urged  upon 
the  Council  the  erection  of  Montana  into  a  Vicariate  Apostolic. 
Hence  the  action  of  the  Council  in  favor  of  the  project.  It  is  clear 
from  this  that  it  was  General  Meagher  who  brought  the  Council's 
attention  to  Montana  and  induced  the  Council  to  erect  it  into  a 
Vicariate. 

Thus  His  Grace  Archbishop  Ireland  in  the  same  letter  quoted 
above,  and  which  we  reproduce  in  full  in  the  Appendix. 

The  Catholics  of  Alder  Gulch  or  Virginia  City,  where  General 


292        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

Meagher  and  Mrs.  Meagher  resided,  became  well  aware  of  the 
facts,  and  now,  in  consequence,  they  were  all  in  eager  and  daily 
expectation  of  the  arrival  in  Montana  of  the  new  Prelate,  ear- 
nestly petitioned  for  by  the  Acting  Governor  and  his  wife.  We 
have  before  us  the  sermon  which  Father  L.  Van  Gorp,  S.  J.,  the 
priest  in  charge  at  the  time,  delivered  on  the  occasion  of  the 
funeral  service  held  for  the  repose  of  the  soul  of  General  Meagher 
at  Virginia  City,  July  9,  1867.  We  quote  from  it  the  following, 
which  is  much  to  our  point: 

He  [General  Thomas  Francis  Meagher]  used  his  utmost  endeavors 
with  the  Ecclesiastical  Authorities  to  have  Montana  made  a  separate 
Diocese  .  .  .  and  in  this  he  has  been  successful ;  for  we  daily 
expect  the  mitred  envoy  from  Rome  to  come  and  take  charge  of 
his  Diocese. 

But  while  it  is  made  evident  from  all  this  that  General  Meagher 
was  directly  instrumental  in  securing  a  Vicariate  for  Montana, 
the  fact  that  the  Second  Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore  in  recom- 
mending to  the  Holy  See  the  Montana  Vicariate  recommended 
also  the  erection  of  another  Vicariate  in  Idaho,  seems  to  indicate 
that  his  action  with  regard  to  the  former,  had  some  bearing  also 
in  the  case  of  the  latter,  at  least,  indirectly.  For  the  Vicariate 
of  Montana,  as  presented  to  the  Holy  See,  took  in  only  the 
eastern  part  of  the  territory,  namely,  the  section  that  lay  east  of 
the  main  range,  or  Eastern  Montana.  Hence,  but  for  the  erec- 
tion of  the  Vicariate  also  of  Idaho,  no  provision  would  have  been 
made  for  Western  Montana.  Yet,  General  Meagher  sought  to 
have  a  Bishop  for  Montana.  Can  it  be  that  his  request  referred 
to  only  a  part  and  not  to  the  whole  of  Montana?  It  hardly  seems 
probable.  Hence  our  surmise  that  his  action,  if  no  more  than 
indirectly,  led  to  the  erection  of  the  Vicariate  of  Idaho  also. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  the  two  Vicariates  Apostolic  recommended 
to  the  Holy  See  by  the  Baltimore  Council  were  erected,  their 
common  limits  being  made  to  coincide  with  the  line  that  sep- 
arated the  jurisdiction  of  the  two  Ecclesiastical  Provinces  of 
Oregon  and  St.  Louis.  This  line,  as  already  stated,  was  the 
continental  Divide  or  the  main  range  of  the  Rocky  Mountains; 
and  thus,  Western  Montana,  because  it  lay  west  of  the  dividing 
line,  became  a  part  of  the  Vicariate  of  Idaho;  while  the  section 


CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTICAL  ORGANIZATION  293 

east  of  the  line  became  the  Vicariate  of  Montana,  though  it 
comprised  only  the  eastern  part  of  the  territory. 

Approving  the  action  of  the  Council  which  had  recommenced 
them,  the  Rt.  Rev.  L.  Lootens,  of  the  Archdiocese  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, Cal.,  and  the  Rt.  Rev.  A.  Ravoux,  of  St.  Paul,  Minn., 
were  appointed  by  the  Holy  See,  the  former  to  the  Vicariate  of 
Idaho,  and  the  latter,  to  that  of  Montana.  On  the  ground  of 
poor  health,  Father  A.  Ravoux  was  released  from  his  appoint- 
ment at  his  own  request;  while  Bishop  L.  Lootens  accepted  his 
charge  and  continued  in  the  performance  of  its  duties  up  to 
1875,  when,  owing  to  physical  disability,  he  resigned.  No  new 
appointments  to  fill  the  vacancies  were  made,  but  instead,  the  two 
Vicariates  were  confided  for  administration,  Montana,  to  the 
Vicar  Apostolic  of  Nebraska,  and  Idaho  to  the  Metropolitan  of 
Oregon.  Thus,  Montana  in  things  spiritual  was  left,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  not  a  whit  better  off  than  it  was  before  the  erection  of 
those  two  Vicariates. 

This  condition,  undesirable  and  unsatisfactory  as  it  was, 
became  increasingly  so  with  the  increase  in  population.  The  dual 
jurisdiction  and  the  great  distance  of  the  two  Sees  on  which 
Montana  depended,  were  felt  to  be  in  many  ways  a  serious  dis- 
advantage to  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  people,  and  hampered 
considerably  the  development  of  the  Church  in  the  territory. 

It  was  at  this  period  that  His  Grace,  Charles  Seghers,  the 
Coadjutor  Archbishop  of  Oregon,  visited  Western  Montana  a 
couple  of  times,  and  thus  became  personally  acquainted  with 
actual  conditions  and  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  country.  He 
went  in  person  to  lay  the  matter  before  the  authorities  at  Rome, 
and  it  is  owing,  principally,  to  his  representations  that  the  Holy 
See  gave  Montana  a  new  and  most  satisfactory  ecclesiastical 
organization,  to  the  great  delight  of  the  whole  community. 

By  a  decree,  dated  March  5,  1883,  Western  and  Eastern  Mon- 
tana were  united  into  one  Vicariate.  Another  decree,  issued  a 
few  days  later,  March  11,  detached  Eastern  Montana  from  the 
Ecclesiastical  Province  of  St.  Louis  and  joined  it  to  that  of 
Oregon,  whilst  on  April  7  of  the  same  year,  it  bestowed  on 
Montana  a  resident  Administrator  in  the  person  of  the  Rt.  Rev. 
John  B.  Brondel,  the  Bishop  of  Vancouver  Island,  who,  though 
retaining  his  title  of  Bishop  of  Vancouver,  was  to  reside  in  our 


294        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

territory.  One  year  later,  March  7,  1884,  the  Vicariate  of  Mon- 
tana became  the  Diocese  of  Helena,  with  the  Rt.  Rev.  John  B. 
Brondel  as  its  first  Bishop. 

But  of  this  last  act  of  the  Holy  See  we  shall  speak  more  in 
detail  further  on.  We  but  mention  it  here,  to  present  Montana's 
ecclesiastical  organization  in  full.  Let  us  now  proceed  to  speak 
of  the  first  missionary  work  among  the  whites. 


Chapter  III. 

FIRST  MISSION  WORK  AMONG  THE  WHITES. 

THE  first  priestly  duty  performed  among  the  whites  were 
several  sick-calls  attended  from  the  Indian  Mission  of  St. 
Ignatius,  at  the  time  the  only  place  in  the  territory  where  the 
comforts  of  religion  could  be  had  and  whence  a  priest  could 
be  summoned  in  case  of  sickness  or  accident. 

The  first  calls  came  from  a  couple  of  settlements,  of  which  we 
shall  speak  directly,  situated  some  forty  miles  southwest  of  the 
Mission.  With  the  beginning  of  the  mining  period,  the  priest 
was  called  from  more  distant  points,  such  as  Gold  Creek  and 
other  camps  in  the  upper  country.  Father  U.  Grassi  attended 
a  sick-call  to  Bannack  in  1862,  the  round  trip  demanding  a  horse- 
back ride  of  some  five  hundred  miles.  On  such  occasions,  when- 
ever practicable,  the  missioner  would  take  along  his  portable 
chapel  to  say  Mass,  and  would  perform  other  priestly  duties, 
besides  attending  the  sick. 

The  two  white  settlements  just  referred  to,  lay,  as  said,  some 
forty  miles  southwest  of  St.  Ignatius,  and  had  come  into  exist- 
ence with  the  opening  by  the  Government  of  the  military  road 
from  Walla  Walla  to  Fort  Benton,  commonly  known  as  the 
Mullan  Road.  The  upper  settlement  or  village  stood  about  five 
miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  so-called  Hell's  Gate  Canyon,  and 
taking  its  name  therefrom,  became  known  as  Hell's  Gate,  too. 
Later  on,  when  speaking  of  the  Missoula  Mission,  we  shall  see 
the  origin  and  meaning  of  this  ominous  appellation.  The  other 
settlement  or  white  village  stood  some  fourteen  miles  below  the 
former,  to  the  west,  at  the  lower  end  of  the  same  valley,  and 
received  the  name  of  Frenchtown  from  the  fact  that  those  who 
first  located  there  were  French-speaking  people,  that  is,  French- 
Canadians.  Among  these  were  Baptiste  Du  Charme,  whose  life 
has  already  passed  the  century  mark;  and  Louis  Brun,  better 
known  as  old  Louis  Brown.  They  were  Catholics,  of  course. 
So  were  the  Pelletiers,  Americanized  into  Pelkies,  and  several 


296        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

others  who  were  among  the  first  to  take  up  farms  and  build 
homes  near  Hell's  Gate. 

The  Mission  road  striking  the  valley  midway  between  them, 
the  two  villages  were  about  equidistant  and  but  a  day's  ride  from 
St.  Ignatius.  It  was  therefore  comparatively  an  easy  matter  for 
those  settlers  not  only  to  bring  out  a  priest  in  case  of  accident 
or  sickness,  but  to  have  his  services  also  at  other  times.  The 
more  so,  that  the  new  villages  lay  along  the  road  traveled  by 
the  Fathers  when  going  to  or  returning  from  St.  Mary's — at 
this  time  visited  from  St.  Ignatius — to  the  Coeur  d'Alenes  and  the 
Indian  tribes  across  the  range.  This  gave  the  whites  in  the 
Hell's  Gate  Valley  many  an  opportunity  to  see  the  priest. 

Further,  the  comparative  nearness  of  places  made  it  practi- 
cable for  some  of  the  new  settlers  to  betake  themselves  to  the 
Mission  for  their  religious  duties,  as  now  and  then  they  would 
do,  especially  at  the  recurrence  of  Easter  and  Christmas.  Thus, 
owing  to  location,  conditions  and  environment,  it  came  to  pass 
that  the  Hell's  Gate  and  Frenchtown  villages  were  the  first  white 
settlements  in  Montana,  as  well  as  the  first  to  enjoy  the  ministra- 
tions of  religion.  And  not  only  this,  but  to  their  lot  also  fell  the 
privilege  of  having  in  their  midst  the  first  two  churches  built 
for  the  whites  in  the  State. 

Father  U.  Grassi,  the  local  Superior  of  the  Mission  at  the 
time,  having  visited  the  Hell's  Gate  village  time  and  again,  con- 
cluded to  erect  a  church  or  chapel  for  the  Catholics  of  the  settle- 
ment. Accordingly,  he  purchased  from  one  of  the  first  settlers 
in  the  locality  a  piece  of  ground  on  which  he  had  a  church 
erected  in  the  summer  of  1863.  It  was  an  edifice  of  hewn  logs 
set  up  by  one  of  the  Brothers  from  the  Mission,  namelv.  Brother 
W.  Claessens,  and  the  work  being  superintended  by  Father  J. 
Caruana,  who  while  on  his  way  to  the  Cceur  d'Alenes  Indians, 
stopped  some  time  in  the  village  for  that  very  purpose.  The 
church  or  chapel  stood  near  the  brow  of  the  northern  bank  of 
the  river — called  at  present  the  Missoula,  but  originally  named 
the  St.  Ignatius  by  Father  De  Smet — and  almost  opposite  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Mary's,  today  the  Bitter  Root  River.  Services 
were  now  held  here  occasionally,  to  the  great  delight  of  the  little 
community.     This  first  church  for  the  whites  in  Montana  was 


FIRST  MISSION  WORK  AMONG  THE  WHITES  297 

named  after  "St.  Michael,  and  remained  a  dependency  of  the 
Mission  of  St.  Ignatius  for  several  years. 

The  new  chapel,  however,  was  at  too  great  a  distance  for  the 
larger  number  of  Catholics  who  had  settled  at  the  lower  end  of 
the  valley.  Hence  the  same  Father  U.  Grassi,  assisted  by  Father 
Menetrey,  did  for  the  lower  settlement  or  Frenchtown  in  1864 
what  the  year  before  he  had  done  for  the  settlement  at  the  upper 
end  of  the  valley  or  Hell's  Gate.  He  bought  a  partially  improved 
parcel  of  land,  and  built  on  it  a  church  or  chapel  for  the  benefit 
of  the  Frenchtown  community.  The  structure  stood  on  the 
elevated  plateau  a  little  northeast  of  the  town,  and  was  much 
like  the  one  in  the  upper  village,  of  hewn  logs  and  of  about  the 
same  dimensions.  It  was  first  called  St.  Louis,  and  most  likely 
after  the  Holy  King  of  that  name.  We  infer  this  from  the  acts 
or  records  of  the  Confirmation  administered  therein  August  3, 
1882,  by  Archbishop  Charles  Seghers,  and  drawn  up  by  Father 
A.  Folchi,  at  that  time  the  priest  in  charge.  It  is  designated  in  the 
records  as  Ecclesia  Sti.  Ludovici.  The  title  was  likely  suggested 
by  the  fact  that  Louis  was  the  Christian  name  of  the  first  settler 
in  the  vicinity,  namely,  Louis  Brun  or  Brown,  whom  we  men- 
tioned above.  The  original  title  was  changed  later  on  into  that 
of  St.  John  the  Baptist. 

Like  that  of  Hell's  Gate,  the  Frenchtown  chapel  remained  a 
dependency  of  the  parent  church  or  St.  Ignatius,  whence  both 
had  sprung  and  whence  they  were  now  visited  alternately  at 
stated  times.  Father  Menetrey,*  who  had  been  charged  by 
Father  Grassi  to  superintend  the  erection  of  the  buildings,  was 
also  the  first  to  officiate  therein. 

*  We  connect  Father  Menetrey  with  the  building  of  the  Frenchtown  chapel, 
and  do  so  on  the  authority  of  some  of  the  settlers  who  are  still  living, 
although  the  Catalogue  of  the  Province  for  1864  places  him  at  St.  Paul's, 
Colville.  Father  J.  Menetrey  had  succeeded  Father  A.  Hoecken  as  Superior 
of  St.  Ignatius  in  1859-60.  Two  years  later,  1862,  he  was  assigned  to  St. 
Peter's,  his  place  at  St.  Ignatius,  as  local  Superior,  being  taken  by  Father  U. 
Grassi.  Since  in  the  Catalogue  of  1864  we  find  Father  Menetrey  located  at 
Colville,  his  destination  to  that  residence  must  have  occurred  during  1863, 
when  the  reopening  of  the  Colville  Mission — which  had  been  closed  since 
1859 — was  determined  upon  by  Father  J.  Giorda,  the  general  Superior.  It  fol- 
lows from  the  above,  that  Father  Menetrey  did  not  go  to  Colville  till  late  in 
the  fall  of  1864;  and  that  on  his  way  thither  he  stopped  some  time  at  St. 
Ignatius,  and  during  that  interval  he  visited  Frenchtown  and  assisted  Father 
Grassi  in  erecting  the  church  in  the  settlement. 


298        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

We  shall  return  in  due  time  both  to  Hell's  Gate  and  French- 
town,  to  complete  the  history  of  these  two  Missions.  Presently 
we  must  cross  the  range  and  take  up  the  history  of  the  Benton 
Mission,  as  it  would  seem  to  come  next  in  the  chronological 
order  of  our  narrative. 


Chapter  IV. 

MISSION  OF  FORT  BENTON. 

FORT  BENTON  could  claim  the  honor  of  being  the  first 
white  settlement  in  Montana,  if  the  terms  "white"  and 
''settlement"  could  have  been  properly  applied  to  it  from  its 
beginning,  for  it  existed  before  Hell's  Gate  and  Frenchtown, 
of  which  we  have  just  spoken.  However,  it  was  not  a  settle- 
ment of  whites,  neither  at  its  start  nor  for  some  years  after, 
but  only  one  of  those  temporary  posts  set  up  for  trading  pur- 
poses and  to  be  abandoned,  as  many  others  had  been  elsewhere, 
with  the  falling  off  of  the  fur  trade.  Furthermore,  the  few 
whites,  or  rather,  white-skinned  Indians,  living  in  the  forts  were 
closely  related  to  the  Indians  by  marriage,  with  the  exception  of 
perhaps  three  or  four  of  the  number.  Hence  our  reason  for  not 
giving  it  the  first  place  as  a  white  settlement  in  Montana. 

Fort  Benton  was  established  by  the  American  Fur  Company 
in  1846,  who  named  it  after  Senator  Benton  from  Missouri,  at 
the  time  a  leader  in  national  politics.  It  replaced  Fort  Louis, 
erected  by  the  same  company  near  Pabloy's  Island,  a  few  miles 
below  the  new  site,  two  years  before. 

In  the  same  year,  1846,  another  company  started  a  rival  trad- 
ing post  in  the  very  same  locality,  naming  it  Fort  Campbell, 
from  the  Campbells  of  St.  Louis,  who  belonged  to  the  new  con- 
cern. Hence  the  place  became  known  under  both  names,  and 
went  for  some  time,  now  by  one,  now  by  the  other.  This  is 
made  evident  by  the  early  records  of  this  Mission,  where  we  find 
it  called  Fort  Benton  at  one  time,  and  Fort  Campbell  at  another. 
It  appears  as  Fort  Benton  up  to  1855,  becoming  Fort  Campbell 
in  1858.  Whence  it  may  be  inferred  that  at  this  date  the  former 
had  been  outstripped  by  the  latter  concern.  The  place  becomes 
again  Fort  Benton  in  i860,  and  from  this  on  Fort  Campbell 
appears  no  more  in  the  records. 

The  rival  establishments  stood  a  short  distance  from  each 
other,  one  at  the  upper,  and  the  other  at  the  lower  end  of  the 


3oo       CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

bottom  bordering  on  the  Missouri,  and  both  within  the  present 
city  limits.  Fort  Benton  was  incorporated  as  a  town  in  1865, 
and  some  time  later,  it  became  also  the  location  of  a  military 
post,  where  a  few  companies  of  United  States  troops  were 
quartered  for  several  years. 

Fort  Benton  has  seen  very  prosperous  days  in  the  past,  it  hav- 
ing been  in  pre-railway  times  the  mart  of  commerce,  the  ship- 
ping and  supply  center  for  the  whole  upper  Missouri  country 
and  all  the  regions  in  the  north.  Perhaps  nowhere  else  were 
ever  seen  mother  crowds  of  daubed  and  feathered  Indians,  buck- 
skin-arrayed half-breed  nobility,  moccasined  trappers,  voyageurs, 
gold  seekers  and  bull  drivers,  all  congregating  at  this  point  on 
the  opening  of  the  boating  season  in  the  palmy  days  of  the 
town's  prosperity. 

Nor  likely  did  there  ever  exist  an  ungodlier  spot  than  was  at 
this  time  the  hill  that  overhangs  the  town  on  the  north  side.    The 
amount  of  profanity  vented  here  by  the  driver  and  bull-whacker 
of  early  days,  was  not  a  whit  less  than  the  enormous  tonnage 
carried  over  that  steep.     Father  Menetrey,  in  company  with  our 
esteemed  townsman,  Matt  Carroll,  was  riding  one  day  close  to  a 
prairie  schooner  driven  by  several  yoke  of  cattle  and  freighted 
with  supplies  for  the  Indian  Missions.     On  nearing  the  foot  of 
that  unhallowed  spot,  the  animals  seemed  to  dread  the  ascent 
before  them,  and  after  a  few  more  sluggish  steps,  came  to  a 
standstill.     The  cracking  of  the  bull-whacker's  whip  over  their 
heads,  its  forceful  application  to  the  backs,  now  of  the  leaders, 
now  of  the  wheelers,  and  of  the  rest,  made  little  if  any  impression 
at  all ;  the  cattle  would  sway  themselves  to  and  fro  awhile  with- 
out budging  an  inch.     Upon  this,  Matt  Carroll  jocosely  taunted 
the  driver,  saying  that  the  bulls  were  lazy  and  no  pullers.     Stung 
by  the  remark,  the  man  came  close  to  Mr.  Carroll  and  whispered 
into  his  ear:     "Keep  the  priest  back,  just  one  second,  please." 
Mr.  Carroll  caught  the  hint  at  once,  and  was  not  slow  to  devise 
some  excuse  for  keeping  Father  Menetrey  out  of  the  teamster's 
way.     No  sooner  did  the  fellow  see  the  Father  beyond  earshot 
than  he  went  at  the  bulls,  not  so  much  with  the  whip  as  with  his 
tongue,  and  spoke  to  them  some  cattle  talk  that  seemed  well 
understood  by  the  beasts,  and  up  they  went  as  if  they  had  no, 
load  to  pull,  nor  hill  to  climb. 


MISSION  OF  FORT  BENTON  301 

Matt  Carroll  had  now  caught  up  with  the  driver,  who,  with 
an  air  of  triumph,  said  to  him:  "Now,  sir,  can't  they  pull? 
They  would  not  do  so  before,  because  I  could  not  speak  to  them, 
the  priest  being  too  near." 

The  first  white  dwellers  of  Fort  Benton  were  the  fur  trader, 
the  trapper  and  voyageur,  the  two  latter  being  mostly  French- 
Canadians.  The  occupation  of  these  people  was  not  merely  to 
hunt,  trap  and  run  errands  for  their  employers,  but  also  to  help 
boats  up  stream  by  the  cordelle  or  tow  line,  great  and  constant 
exertion  being  often  necessary  to  stem  the  current  in  the  upper 
Missouri.  Many  of  these  white  savages,  who  borrowed  much 
of  their  costume  from  their  red-skinned  cousins,  bore  names  that 
were  famous  in  the  annals  of  the  wilderness,  and  the  narratives 
of  their  exploits  would  fill  entire  volumes  of  most  interesting 
and  romantic  reading.  They  were  generally,  not  only  on  friendly 
terms  with  the  Indians,  but  also  bound  to  them  by  marriage  ties. 
But  the  glory  of  these  venturesome  and  daring  children  of  the 
woods  is  at  this  time  well-nigh  extinct,  and  soon  will  be  no 
more  than  a  pleasing  legend  of  the  forests  and  inland  waters 
of  the  American  continent. 

As  we  related  in  the  first  part  of  the  book,  Father  N.  Point 
passed  at  Fort  Benton  the  winter  of  1846-47,  and  was  the  first 
priest  to  dispense  the  comforts  of  religion  to  the  few  whites  of 
the  faith  in  that  trading  post  just  then  established.  We  find  no 
indication  of  any  other  priest  visiting  the  place  from  that  date 
until  1855,  when  we  meet  with  the  Rev.  James  Croke — in  later 
years  the  Vicar  General  of  the  Archdiocese  of  San  Francisco, 
Cal. — who  at  this  time  of  our  history  was  "a  traveling  mis- 
sionary of  the  Diocese  of  Oregon,"  as  he  signs  himself  in  the 
MS.  document  before  us. 

The  document  is  a  register  in  his  own  hand  of  a  number  of 
baptisms  performed  by  him  at  Fort  Benton,  this  being  the  name 
by  which  he  designates  the  place.  The  Rev.  J.  Croke  was  there  in 
October,  1855,  and  baptized  seventeen  half-breed  children,  five 
of  them  on  the  19th,  and  twelve  on  the  23rd  of  October;  "whose 
parents,"  says  the  record,  "are  all  Canadians  attached  to  the 
trading  posts."  The  word  "posts"  in  the  plural  is  understood 
at  once,  when  it  is  remembered  that  at  this  date  there  were  two 


302        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

trading  posts  in  that  locality,  Fort  Benton  and  Fort  Campbell.* 
As  the  name  of  the  "traveling  missionary"  appears  no  more 
after  October  23,  it  is  fair  to  surmise  that  he  must  have  left 
the  place  soon  after. 

Whether  on  this  or  some  other  missionary  excursion  through 
this  wild  country  we  cannot  say,  but  it  is  related  of  the  Rev.  J. 
Croke,  that  one  day  while  at  some  post  or  station  with  other 
travelers,  it  was  whispered  around  that  a  priest  or  Catholic  mis- 
sionary was  among  the  number.  An  elderly  lady,  who  had  never 
seen  a  priest  in  her  lifetime,  hearing  this,  became  at  once  very 
curious  to  know  what  a  priest  looked  like.  On  being  introduced 
to  the  priest,  the  backwoods  lady  directed  a  searching  gaze  upon 
the  reverend  gentleman,  and  after  she  had  surveyed  and  scrutin- 
ized him  from  head  to  foot  to  her  entire  satisfaction,  she  returned 
to  her  quarters,  seemingly  much  disappointed,  and  while  retreat- 
ing:   "A  priest!"  she  was  heard  to  exclaim,  "why,  that's  a  man." 

Father  N.  Congiato — at  this  time  the  Superior  of  the  Rocky 
Mountain  Missions — visited  Fort  Benton  next,  as  we  find  him 
here  September  2,  1858,  baptizing  four  half-breed  children.  The 
place  is  called  by  him  in  the  register  of  those  baptisms  Fort 
Campbell.  The  following  year,  1859,  we  find  at  Fort  Benton 
Father  De  Smet,  who,  August  1,  gave  holy  baptism  to  eight 
half-breed  children  and  to  some  Indians  also,  and  on  the  next 
day,  August  2,  married  two  couples.  The  contracting  parties 
of  the  first  couple  were  Clement  Cornoyer  and  Mary  Champagne; 
of  the  second,  J.  Morgan  and  Rose  Masero,  the  witnesses  in 
both  cases  being  Col.  J.  Vaughn,  A.  Dawson  and  Francis 
Cabanne.  The  latter  marriage,  however,  was  found  soon  after 
to  have  been  null  and  a  sacrilege,  as  Morgan  had  another  wife 
living  at  the  time.  This  is  declared  in  a  note  in  Father  Giorda's 
own  hand  appended  subsequently  to  the  record  of  that  attempted 
marriage,  t 

In  the  spring  of  i860,  we  meet  at  Fort  Benton  with  Fathers 

*  There  existed  at  the  time  the  greatest  rivalry  between  the  two  establish- 
ments, and  from  the  fact  that  the  Reverend  missionary  speaks  of  the  place  as 
Fort  Benton,  without  any  explicit  reference  to  the  rival  concern,  leads  us  to 
surmise  that  while  there  he  was  most  likely  the  guest  of  that  older  post. 

t  Whether  this  is  the  same  J.  Morgan  whom  we  have  seen  connected  with 
the  hanging  of  several  Indians  at  Sun  River  Crossing — see  St.  Peter's  Mis- 
sion, Part  I — the  writer  has  not  been  able  to  ascertain. 


MISSION  OF  FORT  BENTON  303 

A.  Hoecken  and  C.  Imoda,  and  in  July  again  with  Father 
Congiato.  Father  Imoda  was  there  once  more  early  in  the 
spring  of  1861  for  a  short  while.  He  returned  toward  the  end 
of  October  with  Father  J.  Giorda,  who  on  Christmas  morning 
married  three  couples.  Father  De  Smet  visited  Fort  Benton  in 
the  summer  of  1862,  when,  on  June  29,  he  joined  in  matrimony 
Malcom  Clark  and  a  daughter  of  Isidore  Sandeval,  Matthew 
Carroll  and  Francis  Cabanne  being  the  witnesses.* 

From  the  fall  of  1861  to  the  spring  of  1866,  Fort  Benton  was 
occasionally  visited  from  St.  Peter's  Mission  by  Fathers  Giorda, 
Menetrey,  and  a  couple  of  times  also  by  Father  Kuppens,  as 
appears  from  the  baptismal  records  of  that  Mission. 

July  2,  1867,  dawned  most  mournfully  at  Fort  Benton,  and 
the  gloom  and  sadness  that  overcast  the  busy  little  town  in  the 
early  hours,  quickly  spread  throughout  the  whole  of  Montana 
and  far  beyond.  General  Thomas  Francis  Meagher,  the  Acting 
Governor  of  the  territory,  July  I,  had  taken  passage  on  the 
steamer  G.  A.  Thompson,  to  go  east  on  official  business.  He 
disappeared  that  night,  and  no  one  has  seen  him  since,  living  or 
dead.  It  is  certain  that  in  the  darkness  of  the  night  he  was 
engulfed  in  the  turbid  waters  of  the  Missouri,  but  how  the 
drowning  occurred  no  one  has  ever  heard. 

True,  very  strong  suspicions  of  foul  play  were  at  first  enter- 
tained because  of  his  sudden  disappearance.  But  as  not  a  single 
shred  of  evidence  has  been  forthcoming  all  this  long  while  to 
substantiate  them,  they  have  been  generally  dismissed. 

The  idea  that  General  Meagher  might  have  taken  his  own 
life  by  deliberately  throwing  himself  into  the  river,  is  incon- 
ceivable. He  was  a  man  of  deep  faith,  he  had  a  firm  belief  in 
God  and  a  hereafter,  and  such  men  do  not  commit  suicide,  except 
they  be  temporarily  unbalanced.  He  was,  moreover,  a  hero,  and 
heroes  will  face  every  manner  of  death  but  that  of  the  coward 
who  rashly  and  foolishly  ends  his  own  life,  to  escape  what  he 
has  not  the  courage  to  endure. 

General  Meagher  was  seen  and  spoken  to  by  several  of  his 
friends,  who  accompanied  him  on  board  and  remained  with  him 
up  to  the  moment  that  the  boat  made  loose.     He  was  then  in  a 

*  Malcom  Clark  some  years  later,  as  we  related  in  the  first  part,  was 
killed  by  Indians  at  his  home  in  Prickly  Pear  Canyon. 


304        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

normal  and  perfectly  sound  condition  of  mind  and  body.  Hence, 
the  common  belief  that  General  Thomas  Francis  Meagher  came 
to  his  death  by  some  fortuitous  mishap,  the  nature  of  which 
remains  unknown. 

The  boat  had  no  guard  rail ;  hence  a  fatal  misstep  in  the  dark- 
ness of  the  night  could  easily  have  occurred.  It  is,  of  course, 
possible  that  General  Meagher,  taken  unawares  and  without  the 
slightest  apprehension  of  danger,  may  have  been  pushed  over- 
board by  an  enemy.  But  as  we  have  said,  there  is  absolutely  no 
evidence  to  substantiate  this  view. 

The  whole  country  near  and  far  was  shocked  beyond  expres- 
sion at  the  exceedingly  sad  event,  and  the  untimely  loss  of  the 
firm  believer,  staunch  patriot,  gallant  soldier,  gifted  scholar  and 
eloquent  orator,  was  deeply  mourned  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic, 
and  wheresoever  sons  and  daughters  of  Erin  are  to  be  found. 

His  obsequies  were  held  at  Virginia  City,  where  he  resided,  and 
we  shall  speak  of  them  in  the  local  history  of  that  Mission. 
Services  for  the  repose  of  his  soul  were  held  likewise  at  Helena 
and  also  at  St.  Ignatius.  He  and  Mrs.  Meagher  had  visited  the 
latter  place,  the  Mission's  honored  guests  for  several  days,  only 
a  few  months  before  his  death. 

Returning  to  the  local  narrative  of  Fort  Benton,  in  the  interval 
between  the  closing  and  the  reopening  of  the  Mission  of  St. 
Peter,  that  is,  from  the  spring  of  1866  to  the  fall  of  1874,  the 
place  was  attended  from  Helena  by  Fathers  C.  Imoda  and  L. 
Van  Gorp.  After  this  period,  the  Fort  Benton  community 
began  to  be  visited  from  St.  Peter's,  now  by  Father  Imoda,  now 
by  Father  Rappagliosi,  and  for  a  time  also  by  Father  J.  Guidi. 
The  first  regular  services  at  Fort  Benton  were  held  by  Father 
Imoda  in  1878,  when  he  began  to  reside  in  the  place.  The  first 
church  edifice  in  that  town,  the  chapel  of  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception, was  erected  by  him  at  this  time,  1878-79.  Not  long 
after,  1880,  Father  H.  Camp  was  assigned  to  this  post,  and  had 
spiritual  charge  of  the   Fort  Benton   district   for  about  three 

years. 

Desirous  of  having  a  Sisters'  Community  in  their  midst,  the 
people  of  the  town  commenced  the  erection  of  a  hospital  in  1883, 
a  substantial  brick  structure,  which  they  completed  in  1884,  at  a 
cost  of  some  $12,000.     It  remained,  however,  unoccupied  till 


MISSION  OF  FORT  BENTON  305 

September,  1885,  at  which  date  a  colony  of  Sisters  of  Providence 
arrived,  and  opened  the  new  institution  under  the  name  and 
patronage  of  St.  Clare  of  Montefalco. 

In  the  meantime,  July,  1883,  Father  Camp  had  returned  to 
the  States,  Father  Frederick  Eberschweiler  succeeding  him  at 
Fort  Benton,  and  laboring  on  this  field  some  four  years.  Between 
intervals,  both  before  as  well  as  after  this  period,  the  Fort  Benton 
community  was  attended  some  few  times  by  Father  Damiani  and 
some  other  confreres  from  St.  Peter's. 

Father  Philibertus  Tornielli  next  took  charge  of  the  place, 
holding  it  for  a  couple  of  years.  On  his  being  transferred  to 
the  Holy  Family  Mission,  Fort  Benton  for  a  time  fell  to  the 
care  of  Father  Herman  Schuler  and  others  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus. 

Fort  Assiniboine,  a  large  military  post  on  Beaver  Creek,  near 
Milk  River,  established  in  1879,  as  well  as  the  settlements  of 
Shonkin,  Upper  Teton  and  Highwoods,  belong  to  this  missionary 
district  and  were  attended  more  or  less  regularly  from  Fort 
Benton.  The  Catholic  population  of  the  entire  district  in  1888 
was  reckoned  at  800.  In  1891,  the  number  had  increased  to 
1,800. 

During  the  last  four  years,  from  1888  to  the  end  of  1891,  the 
baptisms  recorded  in  this  church  numbered  159,  and  the  mar- 
riages 24. 

It  is  perhaps  well  to  state  here,  as  a  conclusion  of  the  local 
history  of  Fort  Benton,  though  attended  from  its  first  begin- 
nings by  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  the  place,  properly  speaking,  has 
never  been  a  residence  of  the  Society. 


Chapter  V. 

MISSION  OF  VIRGINIA  CITY  OR  ALDER  GULCH. 

VIRGINIA  CITY  came  into  existence  with  the  find  of  gold 
in  that  locality,  February,  1863.  It  went  at  first  by  the 
name  of  Alder  Gulch,  the  place  where  gold  was  first  discovered. 
It  soon  became  famous,  owing  to  the  vast  amount  of  the  precious 
metal  obtained  there,  and  within  a  few  months  what  had  been 
a  wild,  dreary  place  began  to  swarm  with  human  beings,  num- 
bering several  thousands. 

Father  J.  Giorda  was  the  first  priest  who  visited  Alder  Gulch. 
He  arrived  there  from  the  Mission  of  St.  Peter  October  31,  and 
on  the  next  day,  the  Feast  of  All  Saints,  sanctified  the  locality 
by  the  first  Mass  ever  said  in  that  section.  In  his  first  mission- 
ary excursion  to  Virginia  City,  Father  Giorda  heard  many  con- 
fessions, baptized  several  children  and  married  some  couples, 
baptisms  and  marriages  being  duly  recorded  by  him  on  his 
return  to  St.  Peter's. 

An  incident  of  Father  Giorda's  first  visit  to  Alder  Gulch  is 
worth  recording.  A  few  days  after  his  arrival,  some  Catholic 
gentlemen  went  about  among  the  miners  and  collected  quite  a 
purse  of  gold  dust — the  only  currency  there  at  the  time — and 
brought  it  to  him.  The  apostolic  man  cordially  thanked  those 
good  people  for  their  kindness,  but  told  them  at  the  same  time 
that  he  had  come  after  souls,  not  after  gold,  and  declined 
to  accept  the  offering.  They  politely  told  him  that  before 
leaving  the  camp  he  would  surely  need  some  wherewithal  to 
pay  his  board,  and  for  the  care  of  his  mount  and  pack  animal, 
but  he  could  not  be  persuaded  to  accept  the  purse. 

A  few  days  after,  when  about  to  leave,  he  found  to  his 
dismay  that  the  bill  for  his  board  and  the  care  of  his  two 
horses  had  mounted  into  the  hundreds,  and  he  had  hardly  one 
copper  in  his  possession.  The  gentlemen,  who  had  foreseen 
all  this,  were  ready  and  but  too  willing  to  relieve  him  of  his 
embarrassment.      They   paid   the  bill.      While   all   admired   the 


MISSION  OF   VIRGINIA    CITY   OR  ALDER   GULCH  307 

disinterestedness  of  the  Father  and  many  were  edified  by  it, 
some  few  others  seemed  to  be  unable  to  appreciate  his  motives. 
They  thought  and  spoke  of  his  conduct  as  if  it  had  been  that 
of  a  "greenhorn."  Father  Giorda  left  the  camp  toward  the 
latter  part  of  November. 

The  following  year,  1864,  was  an  eventful  one  for  the  whole 
of  Montana,  but  particularly  so  for  Virginia  City,  and  may  be 
called  the  year  of  hangings  or  retribution  and  summary  justice, 
dealt  out  unsparingly  to  road-agents  and  other  evil-doers.  Some 
twenty  executions  took  place  between  the  4th  and  26th  of 
January  of  that  memorable  year,  mostly  in  Virginia  City  and 
its  vicinity.  The  wretched  victims  were  launched  into  eternity 
on  very  short  notice  and  without  any  spiritual  assistance  at 
the  hands  of  a  priest,  as  there  were  no  priests  within  several 
hundred  miles  of  the  town. 

In  the  fall  of  1864  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Raverdy,  a  secular  priest 
from  Denver,  Colorado,  visited  Virginia  City  and  remained  there 
over  a  month.  During  the  while,  he  baptized  several  children, 
and  joined  five  couples  in  marriage,  the  records  of  which  were 
afterwards  transmitted  to  Helena. 

About  Whitsuntide  of  the  following  year,  1865,  Father  Giorda 
was  again  in  Virginia  City,  but  left  soon  after  to  visit  the 
Indian  Missions  across  the  Range.  He  made  arrangements 
toward  having  one  of  the  Fathers  visit  the  camp,  its  population 
being  now  reckoned  at  10,000,  with  a  large  percentage  of 
Catholics.  Hence  the  miners  were  soon  gladdened  by  the 
arrival  of  Father  F.  X.  Kuppens  who  remained  among  them 
several  weeks. 

A  few  days  before  Christmas,  Father  Giorda  made  his  third 
excursion  to  Virginia  City,  and  on  this  occasion  he  took  steps 
to  secure  a  church  or  chapel  for  the  Catholic  portion  of  the 
community.  Having  conferred  on  the  subject  with  the  leading 
members  of  the  Congregation  they  found  a  building  used  as 
a  play-house,  which  they  bought  and  soon  fitted  up  as  a  place 
of  worship.  Father  Giorda  dedicated  it,  not  under  the  title 
of  St.  Mary,  as  some  would  have  it,  but  of  All  Saints.  This 
is  made  evident  by  the  front  page  of  the  Record  of  Marriages, 
which  he  opened  here  at  this  date  and  inscribed  as  follows  in 
his    own    hand :     Liber    matrimonioram    in    Ecclesia    Omnium 


3o8       CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

Sanctorum  in  urbe  Virginia,  M.  T.  ab  anno  1865;  to  which 
is  added,  also  in  his  own  hand,  the  following:  N.  B.  Ecclesia 
dedicata  fuit  Omnibus  Sanctis  quia  ea  die  prima  missa  celebrata 
fuit  in  hac  urbe  a  P.  J.  Giorda,  S.  J. 

General  Thomas  Francis  Meagher,  the  acting  governor  of 
the  Territory,  welcomed  Father  Giorda  on  this  occasion  with 
an  impressive  and  most  eloquent  address,  while  the  altar  boy 
who  served  the  Father's  Mass  on  Christmas  morning  was  a 
noted  prize-fighter. 

The  purchase  and  the  fitting  up  of  the  building  for  a  church 
had  entailed  considerable  expense,  and  to  help  raise  the  funds 
needed  General  Meagher  was  requested  to  deliver  a  lecture. 
He  spoke  on  the  work  of  the  Church  in  spreading  the  true  faith, 
and  in  the  course  of  his  masterly  address  he  suddenly  exclaimed : 
"Behold,  my  friends,  there  is  here  in  our  midst  a  man  of  God, 
a  priest,  a  missionary,  a  man  distinguished  for  his  knowledge 
of  science,  known  in  Europe  as  a  profound  master  of  philosophy 
and  theology,  a  man  universally  esteemed  and  beloved  by  all 
who  have  the  good  fortune  to  know  him.  This  man  has  left 
all  that  was  most  dear  to  him  in  Europe,  he  has  given  up  the 
brightest  prospects  of  doing  great  things  for  religion  at  home, 
to  come  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  to  come  here  to  Virginia  City 
to  build  a  house  of  God  for  the  faithful  of  Christ.  Yes,  that 
noble  and  heroic  missionary  is  our  own  dear  Father  Giorda." 

The  thunderous  applause  with  which  these  words  of  the 
eloquent  speaker  were  received  by  the  audience  were  proof 
sufficient  of  the  responsive  chord  he  had  struck,  and  it  is 
needless  to  add  that  the  contributions  for  the  church  flowed  in 
unstintedly  at  the  close  of  the  lecture. 

Father  Giorda  was  still  in  Alder  Gulch  in  February,  1866, 
and  Virginia  City  had  now  become  the  Capital  of  the  Territory. 
As  appears  from  its  Journal,  the  first  Legislature  that  sat  there 
elected  him  Chaplain.  On  the  plea,  however,  that  he  did  not 
know  English  well  enough  to  serve  in  that  capacity,  he  begged 
off,  declining  the  honor  conferred  on  him. 

As  we  have  seen  when  treating  of  St.  Peter's  Mission,*  early 
in  April  Father  Giorda  was  hurriedly  summoned  thither.  Vir- 
ginia   City   Catholics    remained     without    the    ministrations    of 

*  See  Part  I. 


The  Rev.  Joseph  Giorda,  SJ. 


The  Rev.  Leopold  Van  Gorp,  SJ. 


MISSION   OF  VIRGINIA   CITY  OR  ALDER  GULCH  309 

religion  till  the  following  August,  when  the  Rev.  N.  St.  Onge 
accompanied  to  the  mines  a  couple  of  Sisters  of  Providence 
from  Vancouver,  Oregon,  on  a  begging  expedition.  Father  St. 
Onge  on  this  occasion  ministered  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  the 
Catholics  in  Virginia  City  for  a  couple  of  weeks.  It  was  not' 
till  late  that  year,  1866,  that  Father  U.  Grassi,  who  now  replaced 
Father  Giorda  as  the  head  of  the  Missions  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  resolved  to  give  Virginia  City  a  resident  Father,  at 
least  for  the  time  being.  Accordingly,  he  sent  thither  Father 
James  A.  Vanzina,  who  arrived  early  in  November. 

Shortly  after,  Father  Grassi  sent  also  to  Virginia  City 
Father  L.  Van  Gorp,  whom  he  summoned  from  Colville  where 
the  Father  was  stationed  at  the  time.  As  this  had  come  about 
through  the  solicitations  of  General  Thomas  Francis  Meagher, 
the  fact  is  feelingly  referred  to  by  Father  L.  Van  Gorp  on  the 
occasion  of  General  Meagher's  funeral,  of  which  we  now  must 
say  a  word. 

As  we  related,  the  sad  and  untimely  taking  off  of  General 
Meagher  occurred  near  Fort  Benton,  on  the  night  between  the 
first  and  second  of  July.  The  obsequies  for  the  repose  of  his 
soul  were  held  July  9,  at  Virginia  City,  where  he  resided.  His 
grief-stricken  and  disconsolate  wife  assisted,  and  the  whole 
community  was  in  mourning.  Father  Van  Gorp  conducted  the 
service,  and  the  words  he  spoke  on  the  occasion  were  appro- 
priate and  eloquent,  instructive  and  edifying. 

We  present  herewith  a  brief  synopsis  of  his  sermon,  which 
we  are  fortunate  enough  to  have  before  us,  it  having  been 
found  recently  among  his  writings. 

Having  announced  his  text :  The  days  of  man  are  short,  etc.,* 
Father  Van  Gorp  pays  the  following  tribute  to  the  departed : 

Sadness  and  grief  sit  upon  every  countenance;  your  tears  of  s®rrow 
bespeak  the  greatness  of  the  loss  you  have  sustained  in  the  untimely 
death  of  the  justly  beloved  and  much  lamented  General  Thomas 
Francis  Meagher,  the  true  citizen,  the  noble  patriot,  the  brave  and 
fearless  soldier,  the  hero  of  many  a  battlefield,  the  talented  orator, 
the  distinguished  scholar,  the  perfect  gentleman,  the  father  and  con- 
soler of  the  poor  and  the  afflicted,  in  one  word,  of  one  whose  noble 
qualities  of  heart  were  in  no  ways  inferior  to  his  high  intellectual 

*Job  jri,  5. 


310        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

attainments  and  exquisite  talents.  But  we  as  members  of  this  Con- 
gregation, as  Christians  and  as  Catholics  of  Virginia  City,  lose  in  him 
a  true  friend,  a  protector  and  a  defender ;  one  to  whose  untired  zeal 
and  endeavors  we  owe  in  great  measure  the  origin  and  progress  of 
the  Catholic  Church  in  this  city.  Those  among  you  who  have  been 
closely  acquainted  with  him  know  full  well  that  he  was  more  con- 
cerned about  the  wants  of  the  church  than  about  his  own.  He  had  a 
constant  eye,  not  only  to  its  material,  but  also  its  spiritual  needs. 
He  used  his  utmost  endeavors  with  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  to 
have  Montana  made  a  separate  diocese.  It  is  owing  to  his  repeated 
entreaties  with  my  Superiors  that  I  was  called  from  a  distant  Mission 
among  the  Indians  to  this  nascent  church  of  Virginia  City,  and  little 
did  he  or  I  suspect  that  almost  one  of  my  first  ministerial  acts  in  this 
church  would  be  to  perform  the  last  ceremonies  of  the  Church  for 
the  repose  of  his  soul. 

Having  thus  eulogized  the  departed  and  pointed  out  by  his- 
torical reference  what  General  Meagher  had  done  to  advance 
Catholicity  in  Montana,  Father  Van  Gorp  proceeds  as  follows : 

When  we  see  the  great  ones  of  the  earth  fall  and  the  heroes  lie 
prostrate  we  exclaim  in  silent  awe  with  the  wisest  of  kings :  Vanity 
of  vanities  and  all  is  vanity  here  below.  Like  every  descendant  of 
the  fallen  race  of  man,  and  like  the  best  built  fortress  which  is  not 
without  its  weak  point,  so  also  our  illustrious  deceased  was  not 
without  his  weakness,  but  his  strong  and  earnest  faith,  his  devoted- 
ness  to  every  good  cause,  especially  to  the  interests  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  his  many  other  virtues,  make  us  feel  confident  that 
he  has  met  in  his  last  hour  the  embrace  of  a  merciful  God. 

The  speaker  now  bids  the  disconsolate  wife  and  all  his  hearers 
to  lift  up  their  minds  to  Heaven  and  accept  the  stroke  from 
the  hand  of  Providence  in  the  spirit  of  true  Christian  resignation  : 

To  the  eyes  of  the  body  which  do  not  see  further  than  the  grave, 
the  loss  must  appear  complete  and  irretrievable ;  but  to  the  eyes  of 
religion,  to  the  eyes  of  faith  the  grave  is  for  the  Christian  the  gate 
to  a  new  and  better  life. 

He  reminds  his  hearers  of  the  shortness  and  uncertainty  of 
our  present  life,  and  begs  them  not  to  banish  the  thought  of 
death  from  their  minds,  and  warning  himself  as  well  as  his 
audience,  he  adds : 


MISSION  OF  VIRGINIA   CITY   OR  ALDER   GULCH  311 

In  order  not  to  be  taken  unawares  in  an  affair  of  such  importance, 
we  should  keep  ourselves  in  constant  readiness  for  the  tremendous 
passage  from  this  life  to  the  house  of  our  eternity.  If  death  is 
certain  as  to  the  fact,  it  is  uncertain  as  to  everything  else,  time,  place 
and  circumstances.  When,  where,  how,  shall  we  die  are  questions 
which  they  who  will  attend  our  funeral  may  be  able  to  answer.  Let 
these  few  reflections  cause  us  to  enter  into  ourselves  and  to  examine 
whether  the  affairs  of  our  soul  are  as  they  ought  to  be.  If  they 
are,  we  have  reason  to  thank  the  Almighty  for  it,  as  for  the  greatest 
of  his  favors ;  but  if  we  find  that  we  are  wanting  in  this,  let  us  set 
to  work  without  delay.  We  have  no  time  to  lose ;  our  days  are  short 
and  uncertain.  If  we  measure  the  duration  of  the  days  which  we 
have  still  to  live  by  that  of  the  past,  we  shall  understand  the  folly 
of  sacrificing  an  eternity  of  happiness  for  the  fleeting  pleasure  of  a 
moment. 

Father  Van  Gorp  concludes  his  funeral  sermons  as  follows : 

Now  whilst  we  are  led  to  this  salutary  conclusion  from  the  solemn 
and  sad  event  of  this  day,  let  us  not  forget  to  offer  up  our  fervent 
prayers  for  the  repose  of  the  soul  of  him  in  honor  of  whose  memory 
we  are  gathered  here  today.  It  is  a  holy  and  wholesome  thought  to 
pray  for  the  dead,  that  they  may  be  loosed  from  their  sins.  If  we 
have  loved  him  during  life,  let  us  not  abandon  him  after  death.  The 
greater  has  been  your  love  and  respect  for  him  whilst  alive,  the.  more 
eager  should  you  be  to  assist  him  now  that  perhaps  he  calls  upon  you 
for  help  in  the  plaintive  words  of  the  souls  in  Purgatory :  Have 
mercy  on  me,  have  mercy  on  me,  you  at  least  my  friends,  because  the 
hand  of  God  has  touched  me. 

Returning  to  our  narrative,  Father  J.  A.  Vanzina  remained 
at  Virginia  City  with  Father  Van  Gorp  till  the  fall  of  that 
year,  1867,  when  he  was  replaced  by  Father  J.  D'Aste  from 
Helena.  In  the  early  part  of  1868,  Father  L.  Van  Gorp  and 
Father  F.  X.  Kuppens  exchanged  places,  the  former  coming 
to  Helena,  while  the  latter  went  to  Virginia  City,  where  he 
remained  only  a  few  months.  In  the  summer  of  1869,  Father 
D'Aste  was  recalled  by  the  Superior,  and  from  that  time  till 
December,  1873,  Virginia  City  had  no  resident  priest:  it  was 
attended  from  Helena  twice  a  year. 

Here  it  is  well  to  observe  that,  properly,  it  was  not  in  the 
power  of  the  Superior  of  the  Indian  Missions  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains  to  station  Jesuit  Fathers  permanently  in  the  white 


3i2        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

settlements  that  were  now  rapidly  forming  all  over  this  north- 
western country.  The  authorization  to  do  so  rested  with  the 
higher  Superiors  in  Europe  and  had  to  come  from  them. 
Further,  the  number  of  Jesuit  missionaries  in  these  regions 
being  very  limited  and  insufficient  to  carry  on  the  work  among 
the  Indians,  they  could  not  establish  Missions  among  the  whites 
without  abandoning  the  natives.  It  was  much  easier,  on  the 
other  hand,  for  the  whites  to  secure  from  their  Ordinaries  the 
services  of  some  secular  priests,  whereas  the  Indians,  if  not 
cared  for  by  the  Jesuits,  would  have  been  left  utterly  destitute 
of  all  assistance.  Lastly,  as  the  care  of  the  Indians  had  been 
confided  in  a  special  manner  to  the  Society  of  Jesus,  the  Fathers 
could  not  slight,  much  less  forsake,  their  trust. 

This  condition  of  things  was  well  known  to  the  authorities 
in  Europe,  who  were  loath,  in  consequence,  to  approve  of  any 
Jesuit  Fathers  being  permanently  engaged  in  missionary  work 
among  the  whites,  until  at  least  the  increased  number  of  laborers 
in  the  field  would  render  this  practicable,  without  detriment  to 
the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  Indians. 

In  all  periods  of  transition  things  are  necessarily  more  or 
less  unsettled,  and  this  was  the  case  with  regard  to  the  mission 
field  among  the  whites  in  Montana  at  this  time  of  our  history. 
Appeal  after  appeal  for  priests  to  look  after  the  white  settle- 
ments in  our  Territory,  was  made  by  Father  Giorda,  both  to 
the  Rt.  Rev.  Aug.  M.  Blanchet,  the  Bishop  of  Nesqually,  and 
to  the  Rt.  Rev.  J.  O'Gorman,  the  Bishop  of  Omaha,  to  whose 
jurisdiction  belonged  respectively  Western  and  Eastern  Montana. 
But  owing  to  the  rapid  settlement  of  the  Northwest  by  whites, 
the  dearth  of  efficient  missionary  priests,  both  east  and  west 
of  us,  was  such  that  neither  Bishop  could  spare  any  for  distant 

Montana. 

Still,  Father  Giorda's  entreaties  were  finally  instrumental  in 
securing  to  the  whites  of  our  Territory  the  services  of  two 
devoted  and  excellent  missionary  priests.  They  were  the  Rev. 
Remigius  De  Ryckere,  of  Deer  Lodge,  the  pioneer  secular 
priest  of  Montana ;  and  the  Rev.  Frank  J.  Kelleher,  the  pioneer 
secular  priest  of  the  eastern  part  of  the  State.  Though  a  later 
arrival  by  seven  years,  we  must  speak  of  the  latter  first,  as  he 
was  identified  with  the  history  of  the  Virginia  City  Mission 


MISSION  OF   VIRGINIA   CITY  OR  ALDER   GULCH  313 

with  which  we  are  now  occupied.  Of  the  latter  we  shall  speak 
further  on. 

Being  compelled  by  the  needs  of  the  Indian  Missions  to 
recall  Father  J.  D'Aste  from  Virginia  City,  Father  Giorda 
renewed  his  entreaties  with  the  Rt.  Rev.  James  O'Gorman  in 
1869,  that  a  secular  priest  might  be  sent  to  look  after  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  the  many  Catholics  in  Madison  and  Beaver- 
head Counties.  No  appointment  was  made  till  four  years  later, 
when  the  Rev.  Frank  J.  Kelleher,  from  Omaha,  was  assigned  to 
Virginia  City,  to  the  great  delight  of  the  faithful  in  that  part 
of  Montana. 

The  Rev.  F.  J.  Kelleher  arrived  in  December,  1873,  and  during 
the  eleven  years  he  was  in  charge  of  that  Mission,  labored  with 
zeal  and  devotedness,  endearing  himself  to  all  classes  of  people, 
Catholics  and  non-Catholics  alike.  His  missionary  field  embraced 
the  two  Counties  of  Madison  and  Beaverhead,  covering  an 
area  of  some  9,000  square  miles.  Having  secured  a  small 
colony  of  Sisters  of  Charity  from  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  in 
1876,  he  opened  St.  Mary's  Hospital  in  what  had  been  the 
former  Court  House  of  Virginia  City,  and  to  him  Laurin  owes 
the  erection  of  its  neat  little  church,  named  also  St.  Mary's 
after  Our  Lady. 

Being  a  lover  of  music,  and  a  fine  singer  himself,  Father 
Kelleher  would  take  occasionally  a  leading  part  in  musical 
entertainments  gotten  up  for  church  or  charitable]  purposes. 
The  sacred  concerts  directed  by  him  for  the  benefit  of  the  new 
church  of  the  Sacred  Hearts,  this  city,  are  still  remembered, 
and  nothing  to  equal  them  has  been  heard  since,  here  or  else- 
where in  the  State.  He  had  been  educated  for  the  priesthood 
in  the  English  College  at  Rome.  Father  Kelleher  was  a  man 
of  talent,  uncommon  scholarly  attainments  and  fine  address, 
brimful,  besides,  of  wit  and  humor,  with  an  abundant  store 
of  keen,  pointed  sarcasm,  but  withal  a  zealous  and  excellent 
ecclesiastic.  He  left  Montana  in  1884,  to  return  to  England, 
his  native  country,  where,  soon  after  his  arrival,  he  was  assigned 
by  the  Bishop  of  Southwark,  London,  to  a  place  of  distinction, 
which  he  has  creditably  filled  and  fills  to  this  day. 

Since  Father  Kelleher's  departure,  Virginia  City  has  had  no 
resident    priest.      It   has   been    attended    for    some    time    from 


314        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

Dillon;  then  from  Butte.  At  present,  it  is  visited  at  stated 
times  from  Granite.  St.  Mary's  Hospital,  whose  continuance 
seemed  no  longer  justified  by  the  few  calls  on  the  charity  of 
the  Sisters,  owing  to  the  miners  leaving  the  place,  was  closed 
in  1879. 

According  to  the  census  of  1890  the  population  of  Beaverhead 
and  Madison  Counties,  which  constitute  this  missionary  district, 
numbers  9,347.  Comparing  the  proportion  of  Catholics,  it  is 
here  considerablv  less  than  in  other  parts  of  Montana.  Virginia 
City,  which  in  her  glorious  placer  mining  days  had  over  ten 
thousand  people,  at  the  time  of  our  writing  contains  hardly 
three  hundred.  But  the  mineral  wealth  still  remaining  in  that 
once  famous  Eldorado  and  vicinity  is  likely  to  give,  ere  long, 
a  new  life  to  the  place. 

We  now  leave  this  celebrated  mining  camp  and  pass  on  to 
speak  of  another,  no  less  celebrated,  we  mean  Last  Chance  or 
Helena. 


Chapter  VI. 

MISSION  OF  HELENA.      LAST  CHANCE. 

FOUR  miners  had  been  "prospecting"  or  searching  for  gold 
here  and  there  in  this  neighborhood,  but  with  no  other 
result  than  that  of  a  few  "colors."*  They  were  on  their  way 
back  to  Alder  Gulch  when  they  concluded  to  test  the  spot  on 
which  Helena  stands  today:  "That  little  gulch  on  the  Prickly 
Pear,"  they  said  to  themselves,  "is  our  last  chance."  Whence 
the  name  of  "Last  Chance  Gulch"  first  given  to  the  place. 

The  four  knights  of  the  pick  and  shovel,  July  15,  1864,  were 
camped  where  Wall  Street  runs  at  the  present  day.  They  sank 
two  holes  to  bedrock,  one  on  each  side  of  the  little  creek,  and 
took  out  not  only  colors,  but  several  nuggets,  each  of  about 
half  a  dollar's  weight;  and  the  gravel  prospected  well  all  through, 
from  the  very  surface.    There  could  be  no  mistake  about  the  find. 

The  first  cabin,  of  one  room,  was  built  here  about  the  middle 
of  September.  In  October  some  200  men  were  already  in 
the  new  camp,  and  during  the  winter  of  1864-65,  one  hundred 
and  fifteen  cabins  were  erected.  The  new  town  came  by  the 
name,  Helena,  October  30,  1864,  at  a  meeting  held  for  the 
purpose.  We  are  told  that  the  name  was  adopted  "after  several 
motions  and  ballotings";  but  what  really  led  to  the  choice  has 
never  been  clear.  The  following  from  Col.  C.  D.  Curtis,  an 
old-time  Helena  citizen,  is  the  only  explicit  statement  which  we 
have  been  been  able  to  find  on  the  subject: 

Helena  was  named  after  the  fair  Helen  of  Troy ;  hence  it  should 
be  pronounced, 

"Helen-a ;  after  a  darling,  dizzy  dame, 
Of  much  beauty  but  spotted  fame : 
In  pronouncing  the  name,  understand  me  well, 
Strong  emphasis  should  be  laid  on  Hel."f 

*  Little  specks  of  gold  found  in  washing  one  or  more  pans  of  gravel  are 
called  "colors"  by  miners. 

f  Board  of  Trade  Journal,  April,  1889. 


316        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

The  richness  of  Last  Chance,  and  other  gulches  in  its  vicinity, 
soon  brought  hither  a  large  number  of  people;  and  from  its 
humble  beginnings  Helena  has  steadily  grown  to  the  appearance 
and  pretensions,  if  not  quite  yet  to  the  dimensions,  of  a  metro- 
politan city.  It  has  been  the  Capital  of  Montana  since  1876. 
Its  log  huts  have  been  replaced  by  large,  handsome  and  palatial 
structures  in  brick  and  cut  stone,  and  with  appointments,  com- 
fort and  elegance  not  always  found  in  older  and  much  larger 
communities.  It  is  beyond  doubt  the  most  substantially  built 
city  between  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  and  Portland,  Oregon.  It  has 
today  a  population  of  about  14,000  souls,  fully  one-fourth  being 
Catholics. 

The  cleverness,  pluck,  enterprise  and  public  spirit  of  her 
citizens,  no  less  than  their  frank,  kind  and  generous  dispositions, 
have  given  to  Helena  the  prestige,  intellectual,  social  and  com- 
mercial, that  has  won  her  deservedly  the  title  of  the  "Queen 
City  of  the  Rockies." 

Sometime  previous  to  the  discovery  of  Last  Chance  Gulch, 
gold  had  been  found  some  twelve  miles  northwest,  on  what 
still  goes  by  the  name  of  Silver  Creek,  also  on  the  Prickly  Pear, 
and  likewise  some  eight  miles  east  of  Helena,  at  a  place  called 
Montana  City,  and  in  several  other  localities  in  the  neighborhood. 

The  first  Catholic  services  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  what 
shortly  after  became  Helena,  were  held  at  Silver  Creek  in  the 
fall  of  1864  by  Father  J.  Giorda  and  Father  F.  X.  Kuppens, 
while  on  their  way  to  Sun  River  or  St.  Peter's  Mission  from 
the  west  side  of  the  Range.  The  two  missionaries  arrived  at 
Silver  City  October  30,  and  stopped  at  Jake  Smith's,  a  son-in- 
law  of  Bill  Keiser  or  Buffalo  Bill.  There  that  evening  Father 
Kuppens  said  the  rosary  and  night  prayers  in  English,  while 
Father  Giorda  had  evening  devotions  in  the  Indian  language 
for  the  benefit  of  a  number  of  Indians  who  were  encamped 
in  the  vicinity. 

On  the  next  morning,  the  Feast  of  All  Saints,  Father  Kuppens 
said  the  first  Mass  for  the  Indians,  to  whom  Father  Giorda 
gave  an  instruction  in  their  own  language.  Services  were  had 
also  for  the  whites,  Father  Giorda  offering  up  for  them  the 
Holy   Sacrifice  and  preaching  a  sermon   in   English.      At  this 


Cathedral,  Helena 


r  I^HE  growth  of  the  Diocese  of  Helena,  since  its  division  in 
J-  1904,  is  evident  by  the  increase  in  the  number  of  priests, 
people  and  parishes,  religious  communities,  schools  and  hospitals. 
In  1904  there  were  only  twenty-four  diocesan  priests;  today 
there  are  eighty-six,  who,  with  fourteen  regulars,  bring  the  total 
number  of  priests  serving  in  the  Diocese  up  to  one  hundred.  In 
1904  there  were  thirty-six  thousand,  five  hundred  Catholics  in 
the  Diocese,  today  there  are  about  sixty-five  thousand.  In  1904 
there  were  twenty-two  parishes,  or  congregations,  with  resident 
priests  and  twenty-eight  missions,  or  churches  without  resident 
priests ;  today  there  are  fifty-two  parishes  and  fifty-two  missions. 
In  1904  there  were  four  religious  communities  with  two  hundred 
and  twenty-six   Sisters ;  today  there   are  ten   communities   and 


three  hundred  and  fifty-six  Sisters.  In  1904  there  were  nine 
parochial  schools  with  two  thousand,  nine  hundred  and  five 
pupils;  today  there  are  twenty-four  parochial  schools  with  eight 
thousand,  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  pupils,  and  eight  high 
schools  with  one  thousand,  seven  hundred  and  sixty-five  pupils, 
the  Central  High  School  of  Butte  leading  all  the  others  with  a 
registration  of  six  hundred  and  fifty.  Plans  are  also  made  for 
a  second  central  high  school  in  Butte,  to  he  conducted  by  the 
Christian  Brothers.  In  1904  there  were  five  hospitals;  today 
there  are  eight. 

But  the  greatest  evidence  of  progress  in  the  Diocese  of  Helena 
are  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Helena  and  Mount  St.  Charles  College. 
Idie  Cathedral,  by  the  solidity  of  its  construction,  the  purity  of 
its  decorated  Gothic  style,  the  perfection  of  its  proportions,  the 
gracefulness  of  its  lines,  the  richness  of  its  furnishings,  espe- 
cially of  its  stained  glass  windows,  ranks  high  among  the  cathe- 
drals of  America.  The  College,  built  of  native  red  porphyry  in 
collegiate  Gothic  style,  is  perched  on  Capitol  Hill  and  surrounded 
by  a  campus  of  fifty  acres.  A  first  wing  was  added  in  1917  and 
a  second  wing  is  in  process  of  construction.  The  College  is 
manned  by  thirteen  diocesan  priests,  who  have  been  specially 
prepared  for  their  chairs  in  various  universities.  Although  only 
twelve  years  of  age,  it  has  given  to  the  Church  several  priests, 
both  regular  and  diocesan.  Two  of  its  graduates  occupy  chairs 
in  the  institution  and  others  are  in  various  seminaries  making 
their  immediate  preparation  for  the  priesthood.  The  lay  gradu- 
ates of  the  College  are  writing  creditable  records  in  public  serv- 
ice or  in  professional  schools.  Thus  Mount  St.  Charles  College, 
true  to  its  purpose,  is  already  recruiting"  from  the  soil  leaders  for 
both  Church  and  State  in  the  intermountain  region. 

Mount  St.  Charles  College  has  had  many  benefactors,  con- 
si  )icuous  among  them  being  the  late  James  Tuohy,  of  Butte,  the 
proceeds  of  the  sale  of  whose  mine,  the  Burke  and  Balaklava, 
willed  to  Bishop  Brondel,  made  it  possible  for  the  present  Bishop 
of  Helena  to  commence  the  work  of  building.  But  the  great 
material  progress  of  the  College  is  due  in  large  measure  to  James 
J.  Hill,  who  started  the  endowment  fund,  and  to  Senator  T.  C. 
Power  and  family,  whose  generous  contribution  encouraged  the 
building  of  the  south  wing. 


MISSION  OF  HELENA  317 

time,  Silver  City  was  the  seat  and  principal  center  of  the  County 
of  Lewis  and  Clark,  then  Edgerton  County. 

About  the  latter  part  of  November,  Father  Giorda  set  out 
from  St.  Peter's  Mission  for  Virginia  City,  where  he  had 
planned  to  spend  a  couple  of  months  administering  the  comforts 
of  religion  to  the  many  Catholics  in  that  large  mining  camp 
and  its  vicinity.  He  crossed  the  valley  a  little  below  the  present 
site  of  Helena,  and  stopped  at  Montana  City,  some  eight  miles 
east  of  us,  and  there  the  next  morning  said  Mass  in  the  cabin 
of  Adam  Crossman,  now  deceased.  Proceeding  on  his  way, 
he  went  as  far  as  Jefferson  City  or  thereabout,  stopping  over- 
night and  celebrating  Mass  the  next  morning  at  Dominic 
Freiler's.  Shortly  after  leaving  the  last  stopping  place,  he 
learned  from  some  miners  coming  from  Alder  Gulch  that  there 
was  a  priest  in  the  place  who  attended  to  the  spiritual  wants  of 
the  Catholics.*  Exceedingly  glad  at  the  good  news,  Father 
Giorda  thought  it  no  longer  necessary  to  go  on  to  Virginia 
City.  He  therefore  crossed  over  to  the  Deer  Lodge  Valley  and 
went  to  spend  the  winter  at  the  Mission  of  St.  Ignatius. 

About  Christmas,  Father  Kuppens  revisited  Silver  Creek,  and 
selected  a  site  for  a  small  chapel,  the  spot  chosen  being  about 
a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  town,  as  most  of  the  miners  had 
their  cabins  along  the  upper  part  of  the  creek.  Father  Kuppens 
hauled  the  first  log  for  the  building.  The  chapel  was  of  hewn 
timbers  and  measured  only  sixteen  feet  by  twenty.  It  was  first 
used  about  the  following  Easter,  and  served  its  purpose  for  a 
little  over  two  years.  The  place  had  a  Congregation  of  nearly 
one  hundred  people,  who  were  attended  once  in  a  while  from  St. 
Peter's  Mission.? 

On  one  occasion  there  occurred  a  miners'  stampede,  and  for 
a  while  Silver  Creek  remained  almost  deserted.  Improving 
their  chance,  some  unscrupulous  persons  "jumped"  the  little 
chapel  and  held  it  as  if  it  were  their  own.  The  miners  returned 
and  with  revolvers  and  rifles  were  about  to  dislodge  the  intruders 
when,  just  in  the  nick  of  time,  Father  Kuppens  arrived  on 
the   spot.      Better  counsels   prevailed   and   sometime   after,   the 

*  The  Rev.  J.  B.  Raverdy,  from  Denver,  Colo. 

t  These  and  most  of  the  other  details  in  the  remainder  of  this  chapter  are 
from  notes  of  Father  F.  X.  Kuppens  which  the  Father  himself  kindly  fur- 
nished to  the  writer. 


318        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

occupants  vacated  the  building  of  their  own  accord.  On  the 
placer  diggings  being  worked  out  and  abandoned,  Mass  was 
said  occasionally  at  Silver  City,  in  a  store.  The  little  chapel, 
later  on,  was  pulled  down  and  used  for  firewood. 

In  this  missionary  excursion,  made  in  the  winter  of  1864-65, 
Father  Kuppens  visited  also  the  other  settlements  and  mining 
camps  around,  including  Montana  City,  Jefferson  and  the 
Boulder  Valley.  Last  Chance  or  Helena  had  come  into  existence 
only  a  few  months  before.  The  Father  passed  through  but 
held  here  no  services  on  this  occasion,  the  place  being  too  new. 
After  the  rounds  just  mentioned,  Father  Kuppens  returned  to 
spend  the  rest  of  the  winter  at  St.  Peter's. 

After  Easter,  1865,  he  was  again  on  the  field,  and  came  over 
to  Helena.  The  spot  where  the  Holy  Sacrifice  was  offered  up 
in  Helena  for  the  first  time,  lies  between  what  are  today  State, 
Wood,  Warren  and  Joliet  streets,  close  to  the  corner  of  State 
and  Warren.  The  church  for  the  occasion  was  a  log  building 
not  yet  finished.  Poles,  intended  to  be  covered  with  mud,  formed 
the  roof,  but  the  structure  had  as  yet  no  window  opening  of 
any  kind.  Still,  as  the  spaces  between  the  logs  forming  the 
walls  were  unchinked,  there  was  no  lack  of  ventilation. 

Subsequently,  both  Father  Giorda  and  Father  Kuppens  said 
Mass  several  times  and  in  several  places  in  Helena,  namely, 
on  Water  Street,  on  the  upper  end  of  west  Main  Street,  in 
W.  Flemming's  boarding  house,  which  stood  on  the  east  side 
of  Main,  not  far  from  Parchen's  corner,  and  lastly,  on  Broad- 
way, a  couple  of  doors  above  the  present  Herald  Block. 

There  stood  on  the  spot  last  mentioned,  a  log  cabin,  the  dwell- 
ing of  Charles  Leath  and  wife,  wherein  Father  Giorda  held  serv- 
ices for  several  days  late  in  the  fall  of  1865.  Two  rough  boards 
were  nailed  together  to  form  a  good-sized  cross,  which  was 
fastened  to  the  gable  of  the  mud  roof  cabin,  facing  Broadway. 
By  means  of  that  sign  our  Catholic  people  soon  knew  that  they 
had  a  priest  among  them,  and  that,  at  least  for  a  few  days, 
they  could  hear  Mass  and  receive  the  Sacraments  in  this  tem- 
porary chapel. 

When  Father  Kuppens  visited  Helena  in  the  spring  he  had 
made  the  first  move  toward  securing,  on  what  sometime  after 
became  known  as  Catholic  Hill,  a  site  for  a  church.     He  had 


MISSION  OF  HELENA  319 

then  started  on  his  missionary  rounds  and  visited  in  the  summer 
and  early  fall  Virginia  City,  the  Salmon  River  mines  and 
other  white  settlements,  and  having  crossed  the  Range,  he  had 
visited  also  Carpenter's  Bar,  Blackfoot  and  McClellan  Gulch. 

He  had  returned  to  St.  Peter's,  whence  he  was  summoned 
on  a  sick  call  to  Diamond  City,  where  a  daughter  of  (J.  P.?) 
Sullivan,  a  girl  about  sixteen,  lay  dangerously  ill.  He  made 
the  trip  from  Sun  River  to  Diamond  City  in  one  and  one- 
half  days'  ride,  arriving  in  time  to  give  all  the  last  comforts 
of  religion  to  the  dying  girl.  To  give  the  miners  in  the  camp 
the  opportunity  of  hearing  Mass,  he  remained  over  Sunday. 
He  then  set  out  on  his  return  to  St.  Peter's,  going  by  Cave 
Gulch,  and  stopping  overnight  in  the  house  of  Henry  Whaley 
— now  of  Missouri  Valley — where  he  also  said  Mass  on  the 
next  day. 

With  the  closing  of  St.  Peter's  Mission,  as  related  in 
Part  I,  Fathers  Giorda,  Imoda,  Kuppens  and  Ravalli  had 
moved  to  the  west  side  of  the  Range.  Three  days  after  they 
had  reached  St.  Ignatius  there  arrived  at  that  Mission  a  special 
messenger  from  General  Meagher,  with  the  urgent  request  that 
either  Father  Giorda,  or  in  his  stead  Father  Kuppens  with 
power  of  attorney,  should  go  to  Helena  without  delay,  for 
the  purpose  of  conveying  to  the  U.  S.  Military  Department 
the  old  St.  Peter's  site  on  the  banks  of  the  Missouri  River.  In 
compliance  with  General  Meagher's  request,  Father  Kuppens 
received  directions  to  return  to  the  east  side  of  the  mountains, 
and  made  the  whole  distance  from  St.  Ignatius  to  Helena, 
nearly  200  miles,  in  less  than  twenty-four  hours.  He  thence 
traveled  with  General  Meagher  to  Fort  Benton  and  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Judith,  where  a  military  post,  Camp  Cook,  had  been 
recently  established. 

On  the  way  to  the  latter  place,  the  monotony  of  their  journey 
was  relieved  by  an  unlooked-for  adventure,  not  altogether 
pleasant.  The  boat  on  which  they  were  making  the  trip  down 
the  river  was  wrecked  and  both  General  Meagher  and  Father 
Kuppens  had  to  blindfold  their  mounts  and  swim  ashore.  One 
of  the  relics  of  the  wreck,  somehow,  found  its  way  into  this 
city,  where  it  has  been  often  seen  and  heard  to  the  present  day. 
It  is  the  little  silvery  bell  that  in  past  years  called  out  Catholic 


320        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

people  to  divine  service,  and  which  still  continues  on  duty, 
summoning  our  youngsters — though  not  always  welcomely — to 
their  desks  on  school  days. 

It  is  to  be  taken  for  granted  that  General  Meagher  and 
Father  Kuppens  traveling  together  talked  over  church  matters, 
that  is,  the  urgent  need  of  a  church  and  a  priest  both  at  Helena 
and  Virginia  City.  It  is  certain  that  after  returning  from  Camp 
Cook,  or  thereabout,  General  Meagher- — whether  alone  or 
together  with  Father  Kuppens,  we  cannot  say — had  staked  off 
on  the  hill  overlooking  the  gulch  on  the  east  side  a  piece  of 
ground  for  a  Catholic  church,  the  very  spot  picked  out  by  Father 
Kuppens  a  year  or  so  before.  This  is  placed  beyond  doubt 
by  L.  F.  La  Croix,  who  states  in  his  paper,  Early  Catholocity 
in  Montana:  "It  was  known  that  a  piece  of  ground  had  been 
staked  off  by  Governor  T.  F.  Meagher  for  the  church."* 

With  the  return  of  General  Meagher  and  Father  Kuppens 
from  their  northern  trip,  the  project  of  building  a  church  in 
Helena  was  discussed,  the  sentiment  in  favor  of  such  a  move 
being  very  favorable.  After  a  short  time,  John  M.  Sweeney 
— gone  since  to  his  rest — received  the  contract  for  a  frame 
structure  22  feet  by  60,  to  cost  in  the  neighborhood  of  $2,500. 
We  are  told  that  there  were  numerous  bidders  for  the  contract, 
but  "the  award  was  made  to  John  M.  Sweeney,  who  desired 
the  work  not  for  the  money  he  could  make  out  of  it,  but  that 
he  might  gladden  his  old  mother's  heart  by  building  a  Catholic 

church."t 

The  church  was  to  be  erected  on  the  crown  of  the  hill,  the 
spot  selected  and  staked  off  by  both  Father  Kuppens  and  General 
Meagher.  Apart  from  the  view,  however,  there  was  little  in 
favor  of  the  location,  the  place  being  a  stony  pile  and  bristling 
all  over  with  sharp,  pointed  rocks,  with  scarcely  space  enough 
between  them  to  set  one's  foot.  But,  "Never  mind  the  rocks," 
said  Father  Kuppens  to  someone  who  objected  to  the  site  on 
that  very  score,  "that  rocky  hill  will  yet  bloom  as  a  garden  of 
roses."  Spiritually,  and  in  part  materially  also,  it  has  come 
to  pass. 

A  committee  was  now  appointed — L.  F.  La  Croix  being  one 

*  See  Appendix. 

t  Early  Catholicity  in  Montana  by  L.  F.  La  Croix. 


St.  Helena's  Church,  Helena 


St.  Michael's,  Hell's  Gate,  Near  Missoula 
first  church  for  the  whites  in  montana 


MISSION  OF  HELENA  321 

of  the  members — to  stake  off  the  place  where  the  church  was 
to  stand.  Ewing  Street  south  of  Broadway  had  not  yet  been 
opened  at  this  date,  and  the  committee  found  their  way  to  the 
hill  barred  by  a  fence  that  ran  along  the  south  side  of  Broadway. 
On  being  told  that  the  ground  enclosed  belonged  to  Judge 
Wilkinson,  the  committee  called  on  him,  stating  that  the  Catho- 
lics of  the  city  were  ready  to  build  a  church  on  the  hill,  but 
access  to  the  site  selected  was  blocked  by  his  fence.  "Taking 
in  at  once  the  situation  and  not  giving  time  to  the  speaker  to 
finish  his  speech,  the  Judge  said:  'Is  that  all?'  and  with  an 
axe  he  demolished  the  obstructing  fence  for  a  distance  of 
about  seventy-five  feet,  and  stopping  to  take  breath,  he  said : 
'Now  you  will  have  a  free  passage  to  your  church.'  "*  The 
generous  act  is  indeed  worth  recording  in  grateful  recognition, 
the  more  so,  because  the  Judge  was  not  a  Catholic. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  leading  Catholics  of  the  town  drew 
up  and  signed  a  petition  to  Father  Grassi,  now  Father  Giorda's 
successor,  earnestly  requesting  that  two  Fathers  might  be  sta- 
tioned at  Helena  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  that  new  and 
growing  community.  The  original,  dated  October  10,  1866,  is 
preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  Missions,  and  among  its  signers 
appear  the  following:  John  C.  Curtin,  Helena's  new  and 
worthy  Mayor;  L.  F.  La  Croix,  J.  R.  Drew,  C.  D.  Curtis, 
J.  H.  Curtis,  J.  J.  Blake,  J.  M.  Cavanaugh,  J.  T.  Sullivan, 
Neil  Sullivan,  J.  P.  Tiernan,  M.D.,  J.  M.  Sweeney,  J.  M.  Mays, 
W.  Bardwell,  J.  G.  Hughes.  They  gave  their  petition  to  Father 
Kuppens,  who  was  about  to  return  to  St.  Ignatius,  and  requested 
him  to  place  it  in  the  hands  of  Father  Grassi.  He  consented  to 
take  the  petition  along,  but  playfully  remarked  that,  most  likely, 
he  would  get  a  good  roasting  for  doing  so. 

Whether  he  got  a  scolding  or  not  we  cannot  say,  but  this 
we  do  know,  that  the  request  of  the  petitioners  engrossed  the 
serious  attention  of  Father  Grassi.  He  discussed,  consulted  and 
deliberated  over  the  matter  for  a  good  while.  But  he  finally 
resolved  to  accede  to  the  request,  and  as  the  Catholics  of  Vir- 
ginia City  were  no  less  eager  than  those  of  Helena  to  have 
among  them  a  resident  priest  he  concluded  to  grant  the  wishes 
of  both  places.     Accordingly,  he  assigned  Father  F.  X.  Kuppens 

*  Early  Catholicity  in  Montana. 


322        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

and  Father  J.  D'Aste  to  Helena,  and  Father  J.  A.  Vanzina  to 
Virginia  City,  the  latter  to  be  followed  by  another  priest,  as 
soon  as  practicable.  Writing  at  the  same  time  to  the  Rt.  Rev. 
James  O'Gorman,  the  Bishop  of  Omaha,  to  whose  jurisdiction 
belonged  the  two  places  in  question  and  the  whole  of  Eastern 
Montana,  Father  Grassi  laid  before  him  the  facts  that  had  led 
to  the  opening  of  the  two  Missions,  and  submitted  his  action 
to  the  Bishop's  approval.  The  Bishop  not  only  sanctioned  the 
Father's  course,  but  expressed  his  great  pleasure  and  gratification 
for  what  Father  Grassi  had  done  in  behalf  of  the  Catholics  of 
Helena  and  Virginia  City. 

The  three  Fathers  assigned'  to  missionary  duty  among  the 
whites  arrived  in  Helena  the  last  days  of  October,  and  as  the 
church  had  just  been  finished,  they  had  the  opportunity  of 
opening  it  on  the  Feast  of  All  Saints.  Thus,  the  Helena 
Mission  may  be  said  to  have  been  formally  inaugurated  Novem- 
ber i,  1866.* 

Father  Vanzina  stopped  over  to  assist  in  the  opening  services, 
and  the  new  church  was  blessed  and  dedicated  under  the  title 
of  the  "Sacred  Hearts  of  Jesus  and  Mary,"  which  had  been 
suggested  by  a  Catholic  gentleman  who  is  to  this  day  a  leading 
member  of  the  congregation. f  By  the  following  Sunday,  a 
small  melodeon  or  reed  organ — one  of  the  very  first  brought 
into  this  part  of  the  country — had  been  secured,  and  from  then 
on  the  singing  of  the  divine  service  by  a  select  choir  of  local 
talent  became  an  attraction  of  the  little  church  on  the  hill. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  congregation  held  shortly  after, 
November  4,  a  Resolution  was  adopted  by  which  all  rights  and 
title  to  the  church  buildings  and  lands  in  their  possession  were 

*  The  statement  of  L.  F.  La  Croix  in  his  Early  Catholicity  in  Montana, 
that  the  Fathers  arrived  in  September  is  an  oversight,  or  a  slip  of  the 
memory,  easily  accounted  for,  by  the  fact  that  he  wrote  his  paper  twenty-five 
years  after.  Further,  as  Eastern  Montana  was  not  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
Leavenworth,  but  of  Omaha,  or  more  correctly,  of  the  Vicar  Apostolic  of 
Nebraska,  who  resided  in  Omaha,  the  allusion  made  in  the  same  paper  to 
the  Bishop  of  Leavenworth  is  also  incorrect  and  out  of  place. 

t  The  writer  has  ever  doubted  the  correctness  of  the  title  and  the  expression 
"Sacred  Hearts  of  Jesus  and  Mary" ;  for  the  obvious  reason  that,  while  the 
word  "sacred"  is  here  predicated  of  both  the  Heart  of  our  Divine  Saviour 
and  of  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  the  Blessed  Mother,  it  is  not  predicated  of 
both  in  the  same  sense,  as  is  evident.  The  expression  is  therefore  equivocal 
and,  as  such,  would  seem  to  be  not  only  open  to  criticism,  but  also  to  error. 


MISSION  OF  HELENA  323 

conveyed  to  the  Society  of  Jesus.  The  Resolution  was  subse- 
quently ratified  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  J.  O'Gorman  in  a  letter  to  Father 
Grassi  and  is  on  file  among  the  Mission's  early  records. 

The  first  dwelling  place  of  the  Fathers  in  Helena  were  two 
small  rooms  in  the  rear  of  the  church,  one  of  them  serving  the 
double  purpose  of  sacristy  and  parlor,  and  the  other  a  study. 
Their  sleeping  accommodations  consisted  of  two  berth-like 
shelves,  one  above  the  other,  in  a  blind  corner  screened  off  partly 
by  a  thin  partition  and  partly  by  a  curtain,  the  whole  thing 
looking  very  much  like  a  clothes-press.  As  to  their  meals, 
they  took  them  when  and  where  they  had  a  chance  to  do  so; 
now  sharing  the  hospitality  of  some  of  the  miners,  now  eating 
at  some  of  the  boarding  houses  down  in  the  gulch,  but  more 
frequently  being  the  guests  of  Neil  Sullivan,  the  proprietor 
of  the  St.  Louis  Hotel,  and  proverbially  the  most  hospitable 
of  landlords. 

About  a  year  later,  the  Fathers  left  their  first  abode  and 
moved  to  another,  on  the  east  side  of  Ewing,  just  across  the 
way  and  opposite  the  church.  There  stood  here  a  building 
previously  occupied  as  a  printing  establishment  by  the  editors 
of  the  old  Gazette,  Judge  Wilkinson  and  Peter  Ronan.  The 
structure  was  unique  and  a  real  novelty,  being  built  partly 
from  weather  boards,  and  partly  with  pine  slabs,  standing 
upright.  One  half  of  the  "shebang"  was  roofed  with  boards 
and  the  other  half  with  earth  or  clay,  while  rough  planks  made 
the  floor.  But,  after  all,  it  afforded  the  lodgers  room  enough 
to  breathe  and  stretch  their  limbs.  The  Fathers  bought  the 
premises  in  the  winter  of  1867-68,  and  lived  there  for  some 
time,  that  is,  till  they  returned  for  a  short  while  to  their  former 
quarters  in  the  rear  of  the  church,  and  then  moved  into  the 
new  residence  built  by  Father  Van  Gorp.  This  was  a  four- 
room  cottage  with  an  annex  for  kitchen  and  dining-room,  having 
under  the  annex  a  small  cellar,  dug  out  of  the  solid  rock  by 
Brother  P.  Megazzini.  It  stood  on  the  now  vacant  space  between 
the  Bishop's  house  and  the  pro-Cathedral.  The  funds  to  pur- 
chase the  lot  and  adjacent  parcels  of  ground  were  furnished 
through  the  kindness  of  Charles  L.  Dahler,  of  Helena. 

But  we  are  anticipating.  Let  us  take  up  some  previous  hap- 
penings to  complete  this  part  of  our  narrative.     A  few  weeks 


324        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

after  the  Fathers  arrival   in  Helena,   Cave   Gulch  became  the 
scene  of  a  serious  and  most  lamentable  disturbance. 

A  dispute  over  some  mining  ground  had  divided  the  camp 
in  two  desperate  factions  and,  as  a  consequence,  several  strong, 
sturdy  men  were  sent  into  premature  graves  at  the  hands  of 
fellow  miners.  Father  Kuppens  was  hurriedly  summoned  to 
the  camp,  now  turned  into  a  battlefield.  He  swam  across  the 
Missouri  and  reached  the  spot  while  the  survivors  of  the  two 
factions  were  still  firing  at  one  another.  Five  of  the  dead, 
namely,  Dennis  Murphy,  John  Hassard,  Thomas  Chevers,  Pat- 
rick Osborn  and  Michael  McLaughlin,  were  brought  to  Helena 
and  buried  from  the  little  church  on  the  hill,  the  first  four  on 
December  16,  and  the  last  mentioned  on  the  next  day,  Decem- 
ber 17.  They  were  all  buried  in  the  old  cemetery  east  of  Dry 
Gulch,  which  Father  Kuppens  secured  and  opened  on  this' 
exceedingly  sad  occasion. 

Four  days  before,  namely,  on  December  12,  had  taken  place 
the  first  funeral  from  the  same  church,  it  was  that  of  Patrick 
Seary.  But,  as  appears  from  the  Book  of  Interments,  he  was 
laid  to  rest  in  the  common  city  cemetery,  whereas  the  five  others 
mentioned  above,  as  it  is  stated  in  the  same  book,  were  buried 
in  the  Catholic  Cemetery.  These  are  the  first  burials  on  record 
in  the  books  of  the  Helena  Church. 

The  fear  that  if  located  on  lower  ground,  the  miner's  pick 
and  shovel  might  disturb  the  dead  in  their  last  resting  places, 
had  led  Father  Kuppens  to  lay  out  the  cemetery  high  up  on  the 
hillside  of  Dry  Gulch.  But  the  location  proved  unsuitable,  that 
is,  too  rocky  for  graves,  and  too  difficult  of  access  in  winter. 
Hence  another  cemetery  site  was  selected  west  of  town,  on  that 
part  of  the  slope  of  Mount  Helena  where  Last  Chance  Gulch 
opens  out  toward  the  valley.  Put  we  have  found  no  record  of 
anyone  having  been  buried  in  that  locality. 

The  present  cemetery,  a  four-acre  lot,  was  donated  to  the 
church  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bruno  Ferrero,  frequently  American- 
ized by  many  into  Brown  or  Farrell.  It  is  a  fraction  of  forty 
acres  which  they  had  secured  by  pre-emption,  disposing  of  the 
remainder,  later  on,  to  other  parties.  Bruno  Ferrero  and  his 
estimable  wife,  who  is  a  convert  to  the  faith,  are  of  the  number 
of  those  true,  loyal  Christians,  whose  lives  are  very  exemplary, 


MISSION  OF  HELENA  325 

and  whose  highest  honor  are  their  God-fearing  children  walking 
after  them  in  godliness  and  virtue. 

About  this  time  of  our  narrative  the  little  church  on  the  hill 
received,  as  it  were,  an  Angel's  visit  in  the  person  of  a  German 
priest,  a  nobleman,  by  name  Graaf.  He  left  to  the  church  a 
supply  of  altar  linen,  some  vestments,  a  chalice,  a  monstrance, 
altar  boys'  cassocks  and  surplices,  and  a  variety  of  devotional 
objects.  Some  of  the  valuable  articles  donated  by  the  strange 
visitor  are  used  to  this  day  in  the  divine  service.  The  object 
of  his  coming  has  ever  remained  a  mystery,  and  no  one  seems 
to  know  whither  he  went  after  leaving  this  part  of  the  country. 

The  district  of  the  Helena  Mission  extended  over  a  very 
large  field :  it  included  the  valleys  of  the  Boulder  and  the  Mis- 
souri, Diamond  City,  Crow  Creek,  Bozeman,  Fort  Ellis — 
established  at  this  date — the  Gallatin  Valley,  Beaver  Creek, 
Silver  City,  Sun  River,  and  Fort  Benton,  and  a  number  of  other 
settlements  and  mining  camps,  north,  east,  west  and  south.  All 
these  places  were  visited,  more  or  less  frequently,  according 
to  the  number  of  Catholics  they  contained,  and  their  distance 
from  Helena. 

The  Fathers  traveled  at  first  mostly  on  horseback,  this  being 
the  easier,  and  often  the  only  way  to  get  to  the  different  camps 
and  settlements.  But  it  had  its  drawbacks,  especially  because 
of  their  being  obliged  to  take  their  chapel  along  with  them. 

Whenever  feasible  they  would  travel  by  coach  to  this  or  that 
point,  whence  they  would  be  brought  over  the  whole  neighbor- 
hood by  some  of  the  settlers.  Later  on,  however,  when  it  was 
possible  to  do  so,  they  traveled  by  private  conveyance  as  decidedly 
preferable  and  far  more  convenient.  They  could  thus  easily 
carry  with  them  whatever  they  needed,  and  stop  when  and 
where  their  priestly  ministrations  demanded.  But  this  mode 
of  traveling  entailed  much  more  expense,  as  they  were  obliged 
to  keep  at  least  two  horses. 

Late  in  the  fall  of  1867,  Father  U.  Grassi  came  to  Helena 
and  remained  through  the  winter. 

The  Fathers  at  the  time  had  not  yet  commenced  housekeeping, 
and  took  their  meals  here  and  there,  as  best  they  could.  Father 
Grassi  was  a  man  of  fine,  strong  physique  and  endowed  with 
unusual  powers  of  endurance.     He  could  live   for  months  on 


326        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

half  a  sack  of  flour  and  a  few  pounds  of  bacon,  as  he  had  done 
winter  after  winter  on  the  Indian  Missions.  As  a  rule,  he  was 
his  own  cook,  and  his  repasts  were  like  one  of  those  arithmetical 
combinations  that  give  always  the  same  result;  they  consisted 
of  pancakes  and  bacon,  bacon  and  pancakes,  and  so  on  indefi- 
nitely. While  in  Helena  he  was  offered  free  board  at  the  St. 
Louis  Hotel  by  the  proprietor,  Neil  Sullivan.  But  no  invitation, 
however  pressing  and  how  often  repeated,  could  induce  the 
missionary  to  give  up  his  customary  fare.  He  had  no  relish 
for  dainties  and  was  quite  content  with  "pea  coffee  and  slap- 
jacks" of  his  own  making.  His  companions,  however,  whose 
constitutions  and  stomachs  had  been  cast  in  more  delicate  moulds, 
were  but  too  glad  to  accept  and  partake  of  the  kind  host's 
proffered  hospitality. 

It  is  also  related  of  Father  Grassi — and  we  have  heard  the 
story  from  himself  more  than  once — that  one  day,  as  he  was 
about  to  mount  his  horse,  two  men  came  up  to  him.  Both  had 
heard  the  Father  speak  on  distractions  in  prayer  the  evening 
before,  and  now  one  of  the  pair  made  the  remark  that  he  did 
not  see  why  people  could  not  pray  without  being  distracted ;  he 
himself  had  no  distractions  when  he  prayed.  "Look  here,  sir," 
said  Father  Grassi  to  the  man,  "this  horse  is  yours,  if  right 
now,  on  your  honor,  you  will  recite  for  me  the  Our  Father 
without  letting  your  mind  wander."  The  man  accepted  the 
proposal  and,  assuming  a  devout  attitude,  began  the  prayer, 
but  hopelessly  gave  himself  away  at  once  by  asking,  whether 
saddle  and  bridle  did  not  go  also  with  horse,  thus  proving  that 
things  repeat  themselves,  because  a  similar  incident  is  related 
in  the  life  of  St.  Bernard. 

With  the  opening  of  spring,  Father  Grassi  left  for  the  west 
side,  to  visit  the  Indian  Missions.  In  the  same  spring  Father 
Kuppens  and  Father  Van  Gorp  exchanged  places,  the  latter 
coming  to  Helena,  and  the  former  going  to  Virginia  City. 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  labors  of  Father  Kuppens 
in  the  far  West  were  soon  after  brought  to  an  end,  as  he  was 
recalled  to  his  Province  during  the  summer.  He  proved  him- 
self an  efficient  and  indefatigable  worker,  and  became  very 
popular  among  the  miners  by  his  remarkable  dexterity  in 
handling   wild   bronchos,    as    well    as    rusty   old    sinners.     His 


MISSION  OF  HELENA  327 

departure  was  keenly  felt  by  all  who  had  become  acquainted 
with  him,  and  his  memory  is  still  fondly  cherished  by  many  an 
old-timer  in  the  Boulder  Valley  and  wherever  he  exercised 
missionary  duty.  Father  F.  X.  Kuppens,  S.  J.,  may  justly  be 
called  the  first  pastor  of  the  Helena  Church. 

His  recall  brought  Father  D'Aste  to  Virginia  City  to  replace 
him;  and  Father  C.  Imoda  came  now  to  Helena,  not  only  to 
assist  Father  Van  Gorp,  but  also  to  look  after  the  affairs  of 
St.  Peter's  Mission  and  to  visit  occasionally  the  Blackfeet 
Indians,  until  the  Mission  could  be  reopened. 

In  the  meanwhile,  Father  Grassi  had  enabled  the  Fathers  at 
Helena  to  begin  housekeeping  by  providing  them  with  a  cook, 
Brother  Pascal  Megazzini,  who  arrived  in  the  early  part  of 
summer.  This  excellent  Brother  lived  in  Helena  a  number  of 
years  and  became  not  only  a  familiar  figure,  but  a  favorite  with 
everybody  who  happened  to  come  in  contact  with  him.  A 
remarkable  trait  of  this  industrious  and  exemplary  Religious 
was  that,  while  he  never  wasted  a  minute  of  time,  being  always 
occupied  in  some  duty  or  other,  he  seemed  as  if  he  had  little 
or  nothing  to  do.  For,  even  when  busiest,  he  was  always 
ready  to  leave  off  the  work  on  hand  to  render  some  extra  service. 
The  Brother  was  a  good  cook,  far  ahead  of  many  so-called 
teachers  of  "domestic  science,"  who  despite  their  airs  and  far- 
fetched phraseology,  can  hardly  cook  properly  and  palatably  a 
few  potatoes.* 

*Good  Brother  Pascal  Megazzini,  S.J.,  the  writer's  companion  for  many- 
years,  has  gone  since  to  his  rest,  having  passed  to  the  Lord  at  Missoula, 
October  8,  1894,  after  an  operation  for  double  rupture.  Born  in  Italy,  March 
3,  1839,  he  was  thirty-one  years  in  the  Society  of  Jesus  at  the  time  of  his 
death.     May  he  rest  in  peace ! 


Chapter  VII. 

FIRST  SISTERHOOD   FOR  THE  WHITES  IN    MONTANA. 
HANGMAN'S   TREE. 

BY  this  time  Helena  had  made  such  progress  that  her  future 
as  a  substantial  city  could  no  longer  be  doubted.  Hence  the 
project  of  bringing  in  a  Sisterhood  for  school  and  hospital  pur- 
poses commenced  to  engage  the  serious  attention  of  the  Fathers 
in  charge  of  the  Catholic  portion  of  the  community. 

Father  De  Smet,  whose  good  offices  and  cooperation  had  been 
solicited  by  Father  Kuppens  in  1867-68,  became  interested  in  the 
matter.  The  more  so  since  the  request  concerned  a  region  which 
had  been  the  field  of  his  missionary  labors  among  the  natives. 
He  promised  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  have  Sisters  go  out  to 
Montana  as  soon  as  the  people  should  be  ready  to  receive  them. 
In  the  summer  of  1869  Father  Van  Gorp,  who  had  replaced 
Father  Kuppens,  renewed  the  application  with  the  same  assurance 
on  the  part  of  Father  De  Smet.  Upon  receiving  this  favorable 
answer,  Father  Van  Gorp  began  at  once  to  make  ready,  and 
purchased  several  lots  along  the  east  side  of  Ewing  Street,  as 
the  best  site  for  the  object  in  view. 

While  Father  Van  Gorp  was  thus  preparing  the  place,  Father 
De  Smet  was  busy  trying  to  obtain  the  Sisters  who  were  to 
occupy  it.  He  happened  to  meet  the  Rt.  Rev.  J.  B.  Miege,  S.J., 
the  Bishop  of  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  who  had  arrived  in  St. 
Louis  on  his  way  to  Rome,  to  attend  the  Ecumenical  Council  of 
the  Vatican.  He  came  across  him  on  the  street,  and  there  and 
then,  after  a  few  words  of  greeting,  urged  the  Bishop  to  send 
Sisters  to  Montana.  Bishop  Miege  now  referred  him  to  the 
Community  in  Leavenworth,  saying:  "Tell  the  Mother  I  am 
willing  the  Sisters  should  go,  if  they  can  be  spared."  Father 
De  Smet  lost  no  time.  He  called  upon  several  wealthy  ladies 
and  solicited  from  them  sufficient  donations  in  money  to  defray 
all  the  traveling  expenses  of  the  Sisters  to  Helena,  Montana. 
This  accomplished,  he  took  the  first  train  to  Leavenworth,  and 


FIRST  SISTERHOOD  FOR  THE  WHITES  IN  MONTANA       329 

the  day  of  his  arrival  sought  an  interview  with  the  Council  of 
the  Sisters  of  Charity. 

In  grateful  remembrance  of  the  timely  assistance  rendered  the 
Sisterhood  by  Father  De  Smet  some  eleven  years  before,  the 
Rev.  Mother  and  her  Councillors  received  his  application  with 
favor,  and  five  members  of  the  Community  were  soon  selected 
and  made  ready  for  the  long  journey.  The  chosen  ones  were 
Sister  Julia,  the  head  of  the  band,  Sister  Bertha,  Sister  Loretto, 
Sister  Mary  and  Sister  Regina.  Miss  Rose  Kelley,  who  is  still 
remembered  in  Helena  as  a  young  lady  of  rare  musical  talents, 
was  also  one  of  the  number.  At  Father  De  Smet's  request,  the 
little  colony  assembled  in  the  parlor,  and  after  his  "inspection" 
he  seemed  to  be  delighted  with  their  good  spirits.  There  only 
remained  for  him  to  secure  the  railroad  tickets.  This  was 
promptly  attended  to,  and  the  Sisters  were  soon  entrained  and 
speeding  to  their  destination. 

The  Sisters  left  Leavenworth  on  the  Feast  of  St.  Michael, 
September  29,  and  reached  Helena  October  10.  The  pen  glides 
smoothly  and  pleasantly  over  the  journey,  and  spans  the  whole 
distance  in  less  than  two  lines.  But  what  a  long,  weary  stretch 
for  the  travelers ! 

It  was  late  in  the  evening  when  they  landed  from  the  coach, 
and  though  eagerly  expected,  no  less  unexpectedly  did  they 
arrive,  for  they  reached  Helena  before  they  were  known  to  have 
set  out  from  Kansas.  Those  were  still  the  palmy  days  of  bull- 
transportation  in  Montana,  and  if  the  U.  S.  mail  had  been 
carried  on  bulls  it  might  have  improved  the  service.  Father  Van 
Gorp  happened  to  be  out  in  the  southern  part  of  the  district  on 
missionary  duty  when  he  heard  that  a  band  of  nuns  had  passed 
through  on  the  stage  bound  for  Helena.  He  at  once  started  for 
Home  and,  arriving  ahead  of  the  stage,  was  just  in  time  to 
receive  and  welcome  the  pilgrims.  Being  the  first  colony  of 
Sisters  to  come  into  our  Territory  since  its  settlement  by  the 
whites,  their  arrival  was  an  event  of  no  little  importance  not  only 
in  the  local  history  of  the  Helena  church,  but  in  that  of  Montana. 

Divided  into  three  couples,  the  Sisters  shared  at  first  the 
hospitality  of  three  Catholic  families,  one  couple  being  made 
welcome  in  the  home  of  Mrs.  Brown,  another  in  that  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  L.  F.  La  Croix,  and  the  third  in  the  residence  of  Mr. 


330       CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

and  Mrs.  H.  Galen,  the  hosts  vying  with  one  another  to  make 
their  honored  guests  feel  at  home.  A  few  days  after,  however, 
all  the  members  of  the  little  colony  found  themselves  together 
under  one  roof  in  the  temporary  quarters  hastily  prepared  for 
their  accommodation.  Accommodation,  however,  is  here  much 
of  a  misnomer,  as  the  structure  wherein  the  Sisters  were  to  be 
sheltered  for  the  time  being  was  the  old  Gazette  shanty  which 
we  described  a  little  above,  and  which  the  Fathers  now  vacated 
and  turned  over  to  the  Sisters.  But,  notwithstanding  the  draw- 
backs, it  was  a  great  comfort  for  the  Sisters  to  be  all  together 
and  able  to  follow  their  community  life.  This  alone  was  enough 
to  make  up  for  all  the  inconveniences  of  the  dwelling. 

Beyond  securing  the  ground  nothing  had  been  done  in  the 
line  of  buildings  for  the  permanent  home  of  the  Sisters,  it  being 
considered  the  better  course  to  leave  this  part  of  the  project  to 
the  Sisters  themselves.  For  once  on  the  place,  they  could  better 
decide  what  would  suit  their  requirements.  Soon,  however, 
laborers  and  mechanics  were  at  work  digging,  blasting  and  haul- 
ing material,  and  before  long  a  frame  structure  of  moderate 
dimensions  began  to  loom  up  on  what  had  now  commenced  to 
be  called  Academy  Hill.  Some  of  the  Sisters,  in  the  meanwhile, 
went  out  to  solicit  contributions  for  their  new  home.  They 
traveled  from  one  camp  to  another  throughout  the  Territory, 
their  appeals  meeting  everywhere  with  a  response  hearty  and 
substantial  from  the  miners. 

The  buildings  were  ready  for  occupancy  by  the  latter  part  of 
December,  and  at  the  beginning  of  January,  1870,  St.  Vincent's 
Academy,  the  first  institution  of  the  kind  for  the  whites  in 
Montana,  was  opened  for  the  reception  of  pupils,  both  boarders 
and  day-scholars.  Whilst  providing  for  the  girls,  the  younger 
boys  were  not  forgotten,  the  old  Gazette  printing  office  being 
fitted  up  into  a  class-room  for  their  benefit.  Thus,  with  the 
opening  of  St.  Vincent's  Academy,  a  day-school  for  boys  was 
also  inaugurated. 

The  good  Sisters  had  not  been  many  days  in  their  new 
quarters,  when  it  fell  to  their  lot  to  get  a  glimpse  of  western 
ways,  the  impression  of  which  even  a  quarter  of  a  century  has 
not  yet  obliterated  from  their  minds.  In  what  they  called  "Dry 
Gulch,"  some  three  hundred  yards  from  the  new  Academy  and 


FIRST  SISTERHOOD  FOR  THE  WHITES  IN  MONTANA       331 

in  full  sight  of  the  inmates,  there  arose  a  grim,  solitary  tree, 
with  a  stout  limb  that  projected  from  the  trunk  almost  hori- 
zontally ten  to  twelve  feet  above  the  ground.  The  tree  was  a 
peculiar  growth  in  many  ways,  but  particularly  in  that  it  brought 
forth,  now  and  then,  fruit  of  an  uncommon  kind.  A  casual 
glance  at  it  one  morning  by  one  of  the  Sisters  sent  a  shudder 
through  her  whole  frame.  The  tree  had  borne  fruit  during  the 
night,  and  a  human  being  could  be  seen  dangling  from  the  ugly 
branch  which  we  have  just  described.  Between  three  and  four 
months  later  the  deadly  plant  had  become  still  more  prolific,  for 
two  human  forms  were  now  hanging  from  the  same  limb. 

For  those  of  our  readers  who  may  not  be  familiar  with  the 
early  history  of  Last  Chance  or  Helena,  we  may  add  here  by 
way  of  explanation  that  the  tree  in  question  had  been  selected 
by  the  Committee  of  Safety  or  Vigilantes  of  the  district  as  a 
handy  and  inexpensive  instrument  to  deal  out  summary  justice 
to  evil-doers.  It  became  historical  as  "Hangman's  Tree,"  a 
goodly  number  of  "undesirables"  having  been  sent  out  of  the 
country  by  the  short  road  of  the  fatal  branch.  But  were  they 
in  every  case  really  guilty  of  the  crimes  for  which,  ostensibly, 
the  wretched  victims  were  made  to  suffer  ?  And  was  the  punish- 
ment meted  out  deserved  in  every  instance  by  the  misdeed  for 
which  it  was  inflicted?  Perhaps  so;  still  who  knows  but  some 
such  summary  sentence  will  yet  be  revised  and  even  reversed  at 
the  Judgment  Seat  of  Him  who  "will  judge  our  justices" ! 

That  these  remarks  are  not  made  at  random  can  be  seen  from 
the  account  of  one  of  such  executions  which  is  here  appended 
and  which  the  writer  had,  somehow,  the  chance  of  copying  from 
official  sources.  The  narrative  speaks  for  itself.  We  reserve 
our  comment. 

The  Grand  Historian's  address  runs  as  follows : 

Among  those  who  were  hung  in  the  fatal  tree  in  the  adjacent  gulch 
was  one  who  came  to  us  recommended  from  the  Committee  and 
Lodge  in  Virginia  City  as  a  friend  and  Brother.  He  passed,  while 
here,  under  the  name  of  Trosha,  or  more  commonly,  Frenchy.  He 
had  been  examined  in  Virginia  City  Lodge,  and  was  vouched  for  in 
our  Lodge  by  several  brethren  who  had  met  him  there.  For  a  time 
he  made  himself  one  of  the  most  zealous  and  efficient  ministers  of 
justice ;  was  employed  by  the  Committee  of  Safety  as  special  night 


332        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

policeman.  In  the  Lodge  he  had  acted  as  Tyler  on  several  occasions ; 
was  always  prompt,  ready  and  willing  to  do  any  duty  required  of 
him.  Some  brethren  from  Oregon,  who  subsequently  visited  our 
Lodge,  and  had  known  him  there  some  years  before,  made  inquiries 
about  him,  and  intimated  doubts  of  his  being  a  Mason.  A  special 
committee  was  at  once  appointed  to  examine  him  and  ascertain  his 
true  claims  to  the  character  he  was  acting.  Meanwhile,  I  forbade 
his  admission  to  the  Lodge,  and  brought  upon  myself  his  fierce  dis- 
pleasure. In  several  conversations  with  him,  at  various  times  and 
places,  I  detected  him  in  contradictions,  which  he  made  awkward 
work  in  attempting  to  explain,  till  he  seemed  to  realize  that  he  had 
unwittingly  betrayed  his  true  character  as  an  impostor.  To  make 
our  convictions  doubly  sure,  we  suspended  judgment  till  answers 
were  received  from  Louisiana  and  other  jurisdictions  where  he 
claimed  to  have  been  made  or  affiliated,  and  thorough  search  had 
been  made  through  their  records.  The  answers  received  left  no  room 
for  doubt,  and  the  judgment  upon  his  Masonic  claims  and  standing 
was  unanimous.  His  loss  of  standing  among  the  Masons  led  to  his 
loss  of  standing  in  society  and  fuller  investigation  into  his  general 
character.  He  was  discharged  from  his  place  on  the  police,  and  could 
find  no  employment  anywhere.  Regarding  me  as  the  author  of  his 
calamities,  he  was  often  heard  indulging  in  threats  of  bloody  ven- 
geance against  me.  Of  this,  however,  I  knew  nothing  at  the  time, 
and  only  after  the  execution  did  they  explain  to  me  the  singular 
circumstance  that  I  had  observed  him  about  my  cabin  at  a  very 
unusual  hour  of  the  night,  without  any  apparent  cause  or  satisfactory 
reason.  With  a  fatality  that  seemed  to  court  destruction  he  still 
lingered  in  a  community  where  he  was  an  object  of  aversion  and 
suspicion  to  every  honest  man  and  good  citizen,  and  sank  rapidly 
into  debauchery  and  crime.  It  was  not  long  before  he  was  detected 
in  a  bold  robbery  of  a  very  aggravating  nature.  The  offence  itself 
seems  hardly  to  have  merited  the  extreme  punishment  that  he  re- 
ceived, but  the  false  part  that  he  had  played,  .  .  .  with  much 
additional  evidence  as  to  his  former  life  and  connections,  satisfied  the 
judges  that  he  had  been  and  still  was  a  member  of  a  gang  of  road 
agents,  acting  the  part  of  spy,  and  that  there  was  no  country  to  which 
he  could  safely  be  banished  save  to  that  one  from  which  no  traveler 
returns.  The  high  reputation  that  Masonry  bore  in  those  earlier 
days,  the  protection  that  the  same  afforded,  through  the  general  con- 
viction that  a  blow  aimed  at  one  of  its  members  would  be  avenged  by 
all,  rendered  it  an  object  of  the  highest  ambition  to  gain  admission 
within  its  charmed  circle.  So  far  as  I  have  ever  known,  this  was 
the  only  instance  where  imposition  ever  attained  even  to  partial  sue- 


Hangman's  Tree,  Helena,  Montana 


FIRST  SISTERHOOD  FOR  THE  WHITES  IN  MONTANA       333 

cess,  and  the  final  result  in  this  case  was  not  calculated  to  encourage 
a  repetition.* 

The  pair  seen  dangling  from  Hangman's  Tree  were  executed 
April  30,  1870,  charged  with  holding  up,  robbing  and  almost 
murdering  a  few  miles  from  town  a  rancher  whose  name  was 
George  Leanard.  When  made  aware  of  his  doom,  one  of  the 
two  asked  for  a  priest;  and  a  priest  was  sent  for  at  once.  But 
there  was  no  priest  to  be  had,  as  the  two  Fathers,  L.  Van  Gorp 
and  C.  Imoda,  happened  to  be  both  out  of  town  on  missionary 
duty  at  this  very  time.  Father  Imoda,  however,  had  gone  on  a 
sick-call  a  short  distance  off,  and  might  be  home  at  any  moment. 
On  hearing  this,  the  leaders  who  had  the  execution  of  the  two 
wretches  in  their  hands,  were  considerate  enough  to  suspend 
further  proceedings,  and  waited  between  two  and  three  hours 
for  the  arrival  of  the  priest.  But  as  he  was  not  forthcoming, 
they  now  resolved  to  delay  no  longer. 

A  large  crowd  had  gathered  and  followed  the  wagon  on  which 
the  two  men  were  being  carried  to  their  death,  when  Father 
Imoda  arrived,  overtaking  the  mournful  cortege  one  block  west 
of  Rodney,  about  half  way  to  Hangman's  Tree.  A  brief  halt 
was  made,  that  the  one  who  wanted  to  see  the  priest  might  have 
a  chance  to  do  so.  The  Father  tied  his  mount  to  the  nearest 
fence  and  climbed  onto  the  wagon  with  the  poor  fellows  and, 
while  riding  with  them  to  the  fatal  spot,  gave  the  one  who  had 
asked  for  the  priest  conditional  baptism  and  absolution  as  best 
he  could  under  the  circumstances,  and  stood  by  him  till  the  last 
moment.  This  one's  name  was  Peter  Arthur  L.  Compton,  as 
appears  from  Father  Imoda's  record  before  us.   • 

We  need  not  mention  the  name  of  the  other,  it  being  unneces- 
sary. But  how  did  he  make  ready  to  meet  his  God?  We  find 
nothing  stated  of  him  in  this  regard.  Hence  it  may  be  surmised 
that,  for  some  cause  or  other,  he  felt  no  need  of  any  priestly 
service.  Was  it  to  verify  the  dreadful  words  of  our  Divine 
Saviour :  "There  shall  be  two  men  in  one  bed" — the  bed  here 
was  that  of  a  wagon — "the  one  shall  be  taken,  and  the  other 

*  The  Proceedings  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons  of  Montana:  Eighth  Communication.  A.  D.  1872;  A.  L.  5872.  Pages 
101-102  Helena:     The  Rocky  Mountain  Publishing  Co.,  1873. 


334 


CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 


shall  be  left"?*  No  man  can  tell,  as  God's  means  and  ways 
of  saving  men  are  as  infinite  as  His  Mercy,  indeed.  Still,  as 
there  are  specified  ways  and  means  of  salvation  of  His  own 
appointing,  how  can  any  one  expect  to  be  saved  through  different 
ones  and,  as  it  were,  by  an  altogether  special  dispensation  ? 

The  new  school  had  a  fair  attendance  from  the  start,  the  sons 
and  daughters  of  some  of  the  leading  non-Catholic  families 
being  among  its  pupils.  The  accommodations  were  soon  found 
inadequate  and  within  a  couple  of  years  they  had  to  be  enlarged 
to  nearly  twice  their  original  capacity. 

Of  the  five  pioneer  Sisters  who  came  to  Helena  in  1869,  Sister 
Bertha  is  the  only  one  still  on  duty  among  us.  Sister  Regina 
passed  to  the  Lord  at  the  Mother  House  in  Leavenworth  May 
5,  1875,  at  the  youthful  age  of  twenty-six,  shortly  after  being 
recalled  from  Montana  where  her  health — never  very  robust — 
became  seriously  impaired.  The  rest  are  pursuing  the  duties  of 
their  calling  in  one  or  the  other  of  the  branch  houses  of  the 
Order  elsewhere. 

Just  as  appetite  comes  sometimes  with  eating,  even  so  the 
starting  of  a  Sisters'  School  in  Helena  seemed  to  excite  and 
whet  our  people's  desire  for  a  Sisters'  Hospital.  And  with  good 
reason,  after  all,  for  while  the  number  of  children  was  compara- 
tively small  in  the  new  community,  the  number  of  miners  falling 
sick  or  becoming  disabled  by  accident  and  in  need  of  care  and 
skillful  nursing  was  considerable.  Hence  steps  were  soon  taken 
for  the  founding  of  a  hospital. 

The  buildings  were  erected  in  the  summer  of  1870,  ground  for 
that  purpose  having  been  secured  by  Father  Van  Gorp  some- 
time before.  The  location,  a  most  desirable  one  in  every  respect, 
lay  west  of  the  Academy  and  beyond  the  little  church.  In  the 
meanwhile  another  colony  of  Sisters  arrived  from  Leavenworth 
and  a  couple  of  them  soon  after  set  out  to  solicit  assistance  for 
the  work,  the  people  everywhere  responding  liberally  to  their 
appeal. 

By  the  end  of  October  the  new  Hospital,  a  neat  frame  struc- 
ture of  moderate  dimensions,  was  completed  and  ready  for  the 
reception  of  patients.     Under  the  name  and  patronage  of  St. 

*  Luke  xvii :  34. 


FIRST  SISTERHOOD  FOR  THE  WHITES  IN  MONTANA       335 

John  the  Baptist,  it  first  opened  its  doors  November  1,  1870. 
The  members  of  the  Community  in  charge  of  the  new  institution 
were  Sisters  Julia,  Modesta  and  Mary  Teresa.  Sister  Julia,  as 
we  have  seen,  was  at  the  head  of  St.  Vincent's  Academy,,  and 
by  passing  now  to  the  management  of  St.  John's  Hospital,  had 
the  privilege  of  being  the  first  Sister  Servant  or  Superior  of  the 
first  two  Houses  of  the  Sisters  of  Leavenworth  in  Montana. 

The  Sisters  spoken  of  in  this  chapter  as  the  founders  of  the 
First  Sisters'  School  and  First  Sisters'  Hospital  for  the  whites 
in  Montana,  belonged  to  an  independent  branch  of  Sisters  of 
Charity.  Because  of  the  zealous  and  efficient  work  of  its  mem- 
bers, the  new  Community  has  become  closely  connected  with  our 
subject  as  a  conspicuous  factor  of  the  progress  of  Catholicity  in 
Montana,  and  it  is  but  right  that  we  should  give  a  brief  sketch  of 
its  origin.  Hence  the  following  outline,  whose  every  particular 
has  been  kindly  furnished  to  the  writer  by  the  Rev.  Mother 
Xavier  herself,  one  of  the  Founders  of  the  Sisterhood : 

In  1812  the  Rev.  Father  David,  one  of  the  pioneer  priest  of  Ken- 
tucky, conceived  the  idea  of  founding  a  Community  for  the  purpose 
of  supplying  female  teachers  for  the  Diocese,  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Flaget.  The  zealous  Father  soon  commenced  the 
good  work  by  congregating  together  a  few  pious  girls  of  the  sur- 
rounding country,  who  had  long  wished  to  devote  themselves  to  God 
in  the  religious  state. 

With  his  Bishop's  approval,  Father  David  formed  his  young  Sis- 
terhood according  to  the  Rule  and  Constitution  of  St.  Vincent  de 
Paul  for  the  Daughters  of  Charity  of  France,  not  varying  in  the 
least  from  either,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  additional  clauses, 
which  the  difference  of  this  country  from  that  of  France  made 
necessary. 

The  Sisters  commenced  their  labors  near  St.  Thomas'  Seminary, 
Bardstown,  Kentucky,  but  in  a  short  time  removed  to  their  new 
Convent,  Nazareth,  two  and  one-half  miles  from  Bardstown,  which 
was  then  the  Episcopal  See. 

In  a  few  years  Nazareth  became  the  Mother  House  of  a  large 
Community,  and  as  early  as  1820  it  had  established  branches  in  Scott 
County,  Louisville,  Yellowbanks,  Elizabethtown  and  Bardstown.  In 
1840  a  colony  of  Sisters  was  sent  to  Nashville,  Tenn.,  the  first 
establishment  outside  of  Kentucky. 

In  August,  1819,  Father  David  had  been  consecrated  Coadjutor 
Bishop  of  Bardstown,  but  this  did  not  prevent  him  from  continuing 


336        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

the  care  and  instruction  of  the  Sisters  of  Nazareth,  over  whom  he 
presided  more  than  twenty  years  as  the  Episcopal  Superior.  As  time 
advanced,  the  colony  of  Sisters  of  Nashville  had  increased  to  more 
than  twice  their  former  number.  In  1852  six  of  these  Sisters  having 
determined  to  transfer  their  allegiance  to  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Miles 
of  Nashville,  the  other  members  were  called  to  Nazareth,  the  Mother 
House  in  Kentucky.  From  these  circumstances  originated  the  Sisters 
of  Charity  of  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  the  first  six  having  made  their 
novitiate  and  profession  at  Nazareth,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Rt. 
Rev.  Bishop  David,  their  founder. 

In  a  few  years  the  colony  of  seceders  found  that  they  had  made 
a  mistake  in  locating  in  Tennessee,  as  they  saw  no  possibility  of 
extending  the  works  of  charity  contemplated  in  the  Rules  of  St. 
Vincent  beyond  that  State.  This  matter  was  often  discussed  among 
themselves,  and  finally  resulted  in  a  general  wish  to  remove  to  the 
Northwest  Territory,  where  an  extensive  field  for  the  exercise  of 
their  duties  presented  itself. 

About  this  time  a  Metropolitan  Council  was  convened  at  St.  Louis, 
Missouri,  and  Sister  Xavier  Ross,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  Nash- 
ville colony,  availed  herself  of  this  occasion  to  see  one  or  more  of 
the  suffragan  Bishops  of  that  See  with  a  view  to  secure  a  home  for 
the  Community.  Upon  her  arrival  in  St.  Louis  she  sought  an  inter- 
view with  Father  P.  J.  De  Smet,  with  whom  she  had  a  reading 
acquaintance,  and  laid  the  whole  case  before  him,  confidently  asking 
his  advice.  The  Father  informed  her  that  Bishop  Miege,  of  Leaven- 
worth, would  attend  the  Council,  stating  at  the  same  time  that  one 
of  the  Bishop's  intentions,  as  he  had  learned  from  the  Bishop  him- 
self, was  to  procure  a  colony  of  Sisters  to  teach  in  Leavenworth,  and 
therefore  he  advised  her  to  see  his  Lordship  and  confer  freely  with 
him  on  her  affairs. 

Being  called  upon  by  Sister  Xavier,  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop,  who  had 
already  been  notified  of  her  object  by  Father  De  Smet,  informed  her 
that  he  would  receive  the  whole.  Community  most  willingly.  By 
the  end  of  February,  i860,  the  former  Sisters  of  Charity  of  Nash- 
ville had  passed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Bishop  Miege,  and  from 
their  new  home  became  known  as  the  Sisters  of  Charity  of  Leaven- 
worth, Kansas. 

Of  the  six  members  who  had  been  authorized  by  their  Ecclesiastical 
Superiors  to  transfer  their  allegiance  to  Bishop  Miles  of  Nashville, 
two  died  before  the  colony  removed  to  Kansas,  while  a  third  one 
returned  to  the  Nazareth  Convent.  Thus,  the  three  others,  namely, 
Sisters  Joanna,  Vincent  and  Xavier  Ross  may  properly  be  called 
the  founders  of  the  Leavenworth  Sisterhood. 


Mother  Josepha 


Sister  Julia 


TWO  SISTERS  OF  CHARITY  OF  LEAVENWORTH   DISTINGUISHED  IN   MONTANA   HISTORY 


FIRST  SISTERHOOD  FOR  THE  WHITES  IN  MONTANA       337 

The  three  last  mentioned  are  still  living  and  not  unknown  in  Mon- 
tana, having  passed  some  years  in  Helena.  Of  the  younger  members 
of  the  Nashville  colony,  that  is,  of  those  who  had  joined  the  original 
band  of  six,  previous  to  their  moving  to  Kansas,  several  also  survive 
and  live  in  Montana.  They  are  Sister  Josephine,  in  charge  of  St. 
John's  Hospital ;  Sister  Placidia,  who  presides  over  the  Orphan  De- 
partment, and  Sister  Ann,  on  duty  at  St.  Vincent's  Academy. 

The  new  Sisterhood  increased  rapidly  in  numbers  and  from  the 
Mother  House  of  Leavenworth  soon  spread  to  other  parts  of  Kansas. 
Later  on  they  opened  branch  Houses  in  Missouri,  Colorado,  Mon- 
tana and  Wyoming.  From  the  State  of  Missouri,  however,  they 
subsequently  withdrew  to  exercise  their  calling  further  west,  where 
a  newer  and  larger  field  was  open  for  their  labors.  They  had 
established  only  four  Houses  in  Kansas,  when  they  were  called  upon 
to  branch  out  into  Montana. 

The  Sisters  of  Leavenworth  have  today  a  membership  of 
three  hundred,  and  conduct  thirty  establishments,  eight  of  them 
being  in  our  State. 

With  this  brief  account  of  the  Sisterhood  that  was  destined 
to  do  so  much  good  in  the  cause  of  Catholicity  in  this  part  of  the 
Northwest,  we  return  to  our  narrative,  and  crossing  over  the 
Range,  take  up  the  local  history  of  the  Deer  Lodge  Mission  and 
its  dependencies. 


Chapter  IX. 

MISSION   OF   DEER    LODGE.       ORIGIN    OF   THE   NAME. 
THE  REV.   REMIGIUS  DE  RYCKERE. 

THE  name  "Deer  Lodge,"  by  which  town,  river  and  valley, 
as  well  as  the  county,  are  known  at  present,  has  come  down 
to  us  from  the  Indians.  The  Warm  Springs  mound,  a  picturesque 
freak  of  nature  in  the  center  of  the  upper  part  of  the  valley, 
looked  at  from  a  distance  before  any  buildings  obstructed  its 
view,  had  all  the  appearance  of  an  Indian  tepee,  and  the  hot 
spring  vapors  ascending  from  it,  easily  seen  during  cold  weather 
for  miles  around,  made  the  resemblance  still  greater.  The 
genial  temperature  produced  by  the  heat  of  the  springs  clothed 
the  environ,  even  in  the  coldest  months  of  winter,  with  almost 
perennial  verdure.  The  spot,  in  consequence,  was  the  favorite 
feeding  ground  of  the  white-tailed  deer,  drawn  thither  from  the 
mountains  and  valley.  Hence  the  name,  "the  dwelling,  the 
home  of  the  deer  or  Deer  Lodge,"  given  to  the  locality  by  the 
Indians,  who  in  naming  places,  things  and  persons,  never  fail  to 
express  the  poetry  of  nature,  of  which  they  seem  to  possess  the 
keenest  sense-perception. 

Several  other  names  were  given  to  the  locality  by  the  whites, 
who  called  it  at  one  time  "Spanish  Fork,"  from  the  fact  that 
some  of  the  first  settlers  in  that  vicinity  were  Mexicans.  It 
likewise  became  known  for  a  while  as  "Cottonwood,"  owing  to 
its  being  situated  in  a  grove  of  cottonwood  trees.  It  went  also 
for  a  time  as  "La  Barge  City,"  after  Captain  Jo.  La  Barge,  a 
popular  steamboat  man  of  St.  Louis.  All  this  is  made  evident  by 
the  earlier  maps  of  Idaho  and  Montana  in  which  the  place 
appears,  now  under  one,  now  under  another  of  these  different 
names.  However,  according  to  "the  survival  of  the  fittest 
theory,"  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  original  Indian  name  "Deer 
Lodge"  was  the  fittest,  since  it  survived  all  the  others. 

The  traveler  going  west,  on  reaching  the  top  of  what  bears  the 
uncanny  name  of  Dog  Creek  Divide,  is  treated  to  one  of  the 


MISSION  OF  DEER  LODGE  339 

most  glorious  views,  which  fills  him  with  wonder  and  delight 
by  its  surpassing  beauty  and  impressiveness.  The  valley  lies 
there  smiling  before  him,  the  little  town  nestling  in  its  cotton- 
wood  groves  by  the  bank  of  the  river.  The  Deer  Lodge  River 
cuts  the  valley  in  a  northwesterly  direction  and  its  meandering 
course  is  made  the  more  conspicuous  by  the  fringe  of  vegetation 
along  its  banks.  Yonder,  to  the  left,  are  the  Hot  Springs,  while 
directly  in  front  rise  the  bench  lands  which  stretch  back  and  up 
to  pine  forests  on  the  mountain  side.  And  now,  above  the  broad 
wooded  belt,  bare,  bold  cliffs  lift  up  their  heads,  with  Mount 
Powell,  some  13,000  feet  high,  towering  among  them,  as  a 
giant  among  pigmies :  while  a  little  to  the  right  the  eye  is 
charmed  by  the  snow-covered  crests  of  the  Gold  Creek  Range. 
"The  general  appearance  of  these  crests,"  says  Bishop  O'Connor, 
"is  that  of  a  sea  after  a  violent  storm;  but  no  waves  of  ocean 
could  more  than  miniature  these  mighty  upheavals  of  the  earth's 
crust,"  The  whole  vista  is  truly  one  of  enchantment,  and  the 
spot  whence  it  is  had,  might,  far  more  properly,  be  called  "Grand 
View  Summit,"  than  the  trivial,  insignificant  name  it  has  been 
given. 

The  Rt.  Rev.  prelate  just  mentioned  stood  on  that  summit  in 
the  summer  of  1877,  and  appeared  deeply  impressed  with  the 
grandeur  of  the  landscape  and  the  whole  panorama  before  him. 
We  now  journey  by  rail,  in  all  ease  and  comfort  whilst  palace 
cars  whisk  us  rapidly  across  the  country,  but  our  modern  con- 
venience is,  beyond  doubt,  at  the  expense  of  many  a  sight  of 
inspiring  mountain  scenery  that  lightened  the  discomforts  of  the 
horseback  rider  or  stage  traveler  of  early  days. 

The  first  missionary  work  in  Deer  Lodge  and  vicinity  was 
done  by  one  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  namely,  by  Father  Giorda, 
who,  on  his  travels  to  and  from  the  Indian  Missions  east  and 
west  of  the  Range,  visited  these  settlements  previous  to  1866. 

He  was  at  Cottonwood,  as  the  whites  then  called  the  place,  in 
March,  1863,  and  some  baptisms  performed  by  him  on  this 
occasion,  are  recorded  at  St.  Ignatius  Mission.  He  returned 
shortly  before  the  19th  of  March  of  the  following  year,  1864, 
and  said  Mass  in  the  house  of  Mr.  John  Grant,  or  plain  Johnnie 
Grant,  as  he  was  familiarly  known.  In  the  baptismal  records 
kept  at  St.   Peter's  Mission  we  find  eighteen  baptisms  admin- 


340        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

istered  by  Father  Giorda  at  Deer  Lodge  March  19,  1864,  and 
in  the  number  are  seven  children  of  Mr.  Grant's  own  family. 
The  place  was  visited  again  by  Father  Giorda  in  December  of 
the  same  year,  and  also  in  May  of  the  year  following,  and  on 
both  occasions  he  baptized  several  children  in  viciniis  of  Deer 
Lodge,  in  oppido  Deer  Lodge,  at  Hot  Springs  and  Silver  Bow, 
as  appears  from  the  same  records. 

A  number  of  rich  placer  diggings  were  discovered  at  this  time 
in  Deer  Lodge  County,  and  these  discoveries  brought  thither  a 
crowd  of  miners,  many  of  whom  were  Catholics.  The  presence 
of  a  resident  priest  in  this  part  of  Montana  became,  therefore, 
indispensable.  Father  Giorda  laid  the  matter  before  the  Ordi- 
nary, the  Rt.  Rev.  A.  M.  Blanchet.  Heeding  his  representations 
the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  assigned  to  this  new  field  Rev.  Remigius  De 
Ryckere,  who  reached  Deer  Lodge  in  July,  1866.  From  this 
Father's  arrival  dates  the  beginning  of  the  Deer  Lodge  Mission. 

The  Rev.  R.  De  Ryckere  is  still  at  his  post,  and  has  the  honor 
of  being  the  Dean  of  the  secular  clergy  in  Montana.  He  is  a 
native  of  Emelghen,  a  little  town  in  West  Flanders,  Belgium, 
where  he  was  born  August  6,  1837.  He  made  his  theological 
studies  at  the  American  College  in  Louvain — that  famed  nur- 
sery of  Levites  which  has  given  so  many  zealous  and  efficient 
missionary  priests  and  such  a  galaxy  of  eminent  prelates  to  the 
Church  in  the  United  States — and  was  raised  to  the  priesthood 
by  His  Eminence  Cardinal  Sterx,  at  Mechlin,  May  21,  1864.  He 
left  Europe  in  1865,  to  join  the  Diocese  of  Nesqually,  for  which 
he  had  been  ordained,  and  toward  the  end  of  September  landed 
at  Vancouver,  Washington,  whence  in  the  summer  of  the  follow- 
ing year  he  was  assigned  to  start  the  Deer  Lodge  Mission  in 
Western  Montana. 

Father  De  Ryckere  arrived  at  Deer  Lodge  early  in  July  and 
held  his  first  Sunday  services  in  the  house  of  John  Grant,  the 
present  residence  of  Conrad  Kohrs.  In  October  he  commenced 
the  erection  of  a  chapel  on  Main  Street,  between  Fourth  and 
Fifth,  and  the  hewn  log  structure  was  ready  for  use  by  the  8th 
of  December,  the  Feast  of  the  Immaculate  Conception.  Father 
De  Ryckere  dedicated  it  under  this  title  on  the  same  day,  and  it 
was  the  first  church  building  erected  in  Deer  Lodge  County. 

From  Deer  Lodge,  where  he  made  his  residence,  this  zealous 


&  95* 


X.    •/  X 


The  Rev.  Remigius  de  Ryckere 


The  Right  Rev.  Monsignor  Peter  Desiere 


WELL-KNOWN    AND   LOVED    MONTANA    PIONEER    PRIESTS    WHO    HAVE    PASSED    TO 

THEIR  REWARD 


MISSION  OF  DEER  LODGE  341 

missionary  priest  now  began  to  visit  at  stated  times  all  the 
mining  camps  within  his  Mission  district.  Gold  Creek,  Pioneer, 
Pike's  Peak,  Blackfoot,  Bear  Gulch,  Bear  Mouth,  McClellan 
Gulch,  German  Gulch,  Cable,  Anderson,  Butte,  Silver  Bow  and 
Philipsburg  were  regularly  visited  by  the  pastor  of  Deer  Lodge. 
To  these  mining  camps  were  subsequently  added  farming  com- 
munities, New  Chicago,  Flint  Creek  and  Nevada  Creek,  and 
other  places  sprung  up  within  his  Mission's  limits  since  the 
beginning  of  the  railroad  period,  namely,  Elliston,  Garrison, 
Avon,  Drummond,  etc. 

The  difficulties  and  hardships  of  Father  De  Ryckere's  early 
missionary  life,  far  from  being  easy  to  recount,  can  hardly  be 
imagined,  except  by  the  few  knowing  ones  whose  own  personal 
experience  enables  them  to  visualize  them.  Horseback  rides  of 
40,  60,  90  and  more  miles  over  dangerous  and  at  times  almost 
impassable  trails,  in  the  dead  of  winter  and  through  deep  snows, 
or  under  the  scorching  rays  of  the  sun  in  summer,  were  weekly 
occurrences  in  the  discharge  of  his  missionary  duties.  Accidents 
to  life  in  the  mining  camps  were  frequent,  and  no  less  frequent 
were  broils  and  shooting  scrapes,  and  the  good  Samaritan  had 
to  be  in  the  saddle  whole  days,  and  even  nights,  to  reach  the 
patients  in  time  for  the  last  comforts  of  religion. 

Though  these  sick-calls  were  usually  very  urgent,  it  also 
occurred  once  in  a  while  that  the  case  was  one  of  those  where 
jama  crescit  eundo,  and  that  the  person  reported  in  need  of  the 
priest's  assistance  and  dying,  was  but  slightly  indisposed  and  just 
a  little  under  the  weather.  Father  De  Ryckere  himself  in  the 
winter  of  1866  happened  to  be  the  innocent  occasion  of  a  sick- 
call  of  this  very  kind.  Somebody  reported  him  to  be  seriously 
ill,  to  Father  Kuppens  at  Helena,  who  at  once  jumped  on  his 
horse  and  through  a  blinding  snowstorm  rode  on  to  Deer  Lodge. 
Perhaps  no  one  ever  felt  at  one  and  the  same  time  stronger 
emotions  of  both  chagrin  and  delight  than  did  Father  Kuppens 
on  this  occasion.  His  reverend  patient  was  not  so  ill  after  all,  he 
was  merely  suffering  from  a  sore  finger,  which  he  had  slightly 
hurt  while  splitting  kindling. 

Father  De  Ryckere's  persevering  activity  enabled  him  to 
replace  before  long  the  log  church  by  a  neat  stone  structure, 
erected  on  a  central  spot  some  400  yards  northeast  of  the  first 


342        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

location.  The  new  church  was  opened  and  blessed  on  the  Feast 
of  St.  Joseph,  March  19,  1875,  Father  F.  J.  Kelleher,  of  Virginia 
City,  being  present  and  conducting  the  services. 

The  edifice  cost  over  $7,000,  the  funds  being  realized,  partly 
from  the  sale  of  the  old  site,  and  partly  from  contributions. 
Owing,  however,  to  the  falling  off  of  the  placer  diggings  in  the 
district,  it  took  Father  De  Ryckere  nearly  fourteen  years  to  clear 
the  church  of  all  indebtedness.  The  pastor's  quarters  for  a 
long  while  were  back  of  the  church  and  consisted  of  a  comfortable 
study  room  and  two  small  closet-like  places,  one  a  bedroom  and 
the  other  destined  as  a  guest  room  sacristy.  But,  recently,  a 
neat  and  commodious  brick  residence  has  been  erected  for  their 
pastor  by  the  Catholics  of  the  Mission. 

Father  De  Ryckere  will  ever  be  entitled  to  the  gratitude  of  the 
Deer  Lodge  people  for  the  establishment  in  their  midst  of  two 
flourishing  institutions,  St.  Joseph's  Hospital  and  St.  Mary's 
Academy,  both  conducted  by  the  Sisters  of  Charity  of  Leaven- 
worth, Kansas. 

The  beginning  of  St.  Joseph's  Hospital  dates  from  October  9, 

1873,  and  was  first  opened  in  a  log  house,  which  stood  on  the 
corner  of  Third  and  D  Streets  and  which  had  been  the  first 
Court  House  of  Deer  Lodge.  There  the  Sisters  exercised  the 
duties  of  their  calling  for  several  months,  while  suitable  build- 
ings were  being  constructed.  The  ground  for  these  had  been 
secured  by  Father  De  Ryckere  on  the  little  plateau  in  the  north- 
east part  of  the  town,  a  most  desirable  location.     In  February, 

1874,  the  Sisters  left  their  temporary  quarters,  the  log  house  on 
Third  and  D  Streets,  and  moved  into  their  new  Hospital,  a 
roomy  and  comfortable  frame  structure.  The  premises  had  to 
be  enlarged  and  improved  time  and  again  since.  The  original 
frame  is  now  replaced  by  a  substantial  brick  building,  the  work 
of  good  Sister  Ann  Joseph,  who  has  ably  conducted  the  institu- 
tion for  several  years. 

The  foundations  of  what  became  some  years  after  St.  Mary's 
Academy  were  laid  by  Father  De  Ryckere  in  1878,  and  work  on 
the  building  continued  at  intervals  for  about  three  years.  After 
completion,  the  building  remained  unoccupied  for  more  than  a 
year  for  want  of  teachers.  It  was  not  till  September  4,  1882, 
that  the  doors  of  St.  Mary's  Academy  were  opened  to  receive 


MISSION  OF  DEER  LODGE  343 

pupils,  and  from  that  date  its  progress  has  kept  pace  with  that 
of  the  surrounding  country.  The  well  deserved  patronage  the 
Academy  met  from  the  start  soon  rendered  more  commodious 
accommodations  indispensable,  and  the  original  premises  have 
been  expanded  to  more  than  twice  their  former  capacity. 

Attractive  and  quiet  environs,  together  with  superior  appoint- 
ments for  the  health,  comfort  and  progress  of  the  pupils  render 
St.  Mary's  Academy  a  very  desirable  institution  for  the  education 
of  young  ladies.  The  writer  has  had  occasional  opportunities  of 
seeing  the  good  work  done  by  the  Sisters  in  charge,  and  can 
confidently  say  that  their  efforts  deserve  the  highest  commenda- 
tion. 

In  January,  1876,  Father  De  Ryckere  had  been  given  an 
assistant  in  the  person  of  Rev.  A.  Z.  Poulin,  who  came  to  Deer 
Lodge  from  Idaho  where  he  had  been  on  missionary  duty  for  a 
number  of  years.  Poor  health,  however,  did  not  allow  Father 
Poulin  to  remain  long  on  this  field.  Some  eighteen  months  after 
his  arrival  he  fell  a  victim  to  inflammatory  rheumatism  and 
returned  to  his  native  Diocese  of  Montreal,  Canada. 

Our  attention  thus  far  has  been  mostly  engaged  by  what 
Father  De  Ryckere  has  done  for  the  town  of  Deer  Lodge.  By 
the  condition  of  things,  the  Deer  Lodge  Mission  had  the  honor 
and  privilege  of  becoming  the  mother-Mission,  wherefrom,  as 
from  a  parent  stock,  sprang  several  offshoots  or  dependencies. 
To  complete  this  part  of  our  subject,  we  shall  devote  to  them  the 
next  two  chapters. 

But  we  cannot  forbear  mentioning  first  a  little  incident 
which  well  illustrates  the  practical  foresight,  as  well  as  the  quiet 
yet  effective  zeal  of  Father  De  Ryckere  to  keep  his  flock  from 
falling  a  prey  to  ravenous  wolves. 

In  the  summer  of  1884,  or  thereabout,  John  Maguire,  who  had 
been  providing  Montana  people  for  several  years  with  shows  and 
theatrical  troups,  made  arrangements  to  have  Robert  Ingersoll 
speak  in  several  places  in  the  state.  It  was  simply  a  money- 
making  affair  on  the  part  of  both  the  blasphemous  lecturer  and 
the  impressario,  the  latter  giving  no  thought  whatever — which 
was  beyond  doubt  very  blameworthy  on  his  part — to  his  abetting 
thus  the  ranting  infidel  in  spreading  error  and  heresy  among  the 
people.     Father  De  Ryckere  heard  that  Deer  Lodge  was  one  of 


344        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

the  places  where  the  agnostic  would  deliver  a  lecture,  and  quietly 
set  to  work  to  thwart  the  plan.  Ordering  a  number  of  Father 
Lambert's  Notes  on  Ingersoll,  he  distributed  them  among  Catho- 
lics as  well  as  non-Catholics,  placing  a  copy  in  every  family. 

Some  two  months  after,  when  the  man  appeared  with  the 
tickets  for  the  lecture,  and  to  make  the  final  arrangements  for 
the  appearance  of  Ingersoll,  he  could  sell  no  tickets,  and  notified 
his  master  to  give  a  wide  berth  to  Deer  Lodge,  as  no  one  there 
cared  to  hear  him.  Father  De  Ryckere  had  not  as  much  as 
whispered  a  word  to  any  one  about  his  aim  and  object  in  the 
matter;  and  for  that  very  reason  probably  his  little  stratagem 
proved  all  the  more  successful.  There  was  no  lecture  by  Robert 
Ingersoll  in  Deer  Lodge. 

But  let  us  pass  on  to  the  dependencies. 


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Chapter  X. 

BUTTE.    HELMSVILLE,   PHILIPSBURG,   GRANITE,   ANACONDA, 

STONE   STATION. 

BUTTE  CITY,  one  of  the  first  dependencies  of  the  Deer 
Lodge  Mission,  was  visited  by  Father  De  Ryckere  upon 
his  arrival  in  1866.  A  goodly  number  of  miners  were  engaged 
in  placer  diggings  which  had  been  discovered  in  the  fall  of  1864. 
This  kind  of  mining,  however,  did  not  last  long.  It  began  to 
die  out  in  1868-69,  and  by  1874  placer  mining  in  Butte  had 
dwindled  into  insignificance. 

One  year  after,  1875,  the  discovery  was  made  that  Butte's 
dark  rocks  and  grey  ledges  contained  far  more  treasure  in  silver 
and  copper  than  the  gold  that  had  been  found  in  its  gravels,  and 
from  that  date  the  place  loomed  up  as  Silver  Butte  or  the 
"Copper  City"  and  became  in  time  the  largest  mining  camp  in 
the  world. 

There  being  no  longer  any  doubt  as  to  its  future  Father  De 
Ryckere  built  a  church  there  in  1877-78.  It  was  a  frame  struc- 
ture, which  some  time  later  was  lined  with  brick.  Services  were 
held  from  the  time  of  its  completion,  but  its  formal  blessing 
took  place  August  1,  1879,  when  Archbishop  Charles  J.  Seghers 
was  making  the  first  episcopal  visitation  of  Western  Montana,  to 
which  we  refer  more  in  detail  elsewhere.  The  Archbishop  dedi- 
cated the  church  under  the  title  of  St.  Patrick.  Butte  was 
attended  from  Deer  Lodge  to  about  March,  1881.  At  this  date, 
the  "Copper  City"  became  part  of  the  new  County  of  Silver  Bow, 
as  well  as  a  separate  Mission.  Hence  we  shall  speak  of  it  also 
separately  and  more  in  detail  a  little  further  on. 

Some  time  later  a  church  was  also  built  by  Father  De  Ryckere 
at  Helmsville,  in  Nevada  Creek  Valley,  where  there  is  a  fair 
number  of  excellent  Catholics.  The  structure  is  also  frame,  and 
cost  about  $3,000.  It  was  blessed  July  7,  1889,  by  the  Rt.  Rev. 
John  B.  Brondel,  who  named  it  after  the  Apostle  St.  Thomas. 
The  fact  that  this  was  the  Christian  name  of  Mr.  Coleman,  one  of 


346        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

the  leading  Catholics  and  first  settlers  of  the  place,  most  likely 
suggested  the  title. 

Philipsburg  comes  next  as  a  dependency  of  the  Deer  Lodge 
Mission,  and  a  chapel  or  church  was  erected  there  in  1890-91 
with  the  name  of  St.  Philip.  Adjacent  to  Philipsburg  lies 
Granite,  another  mining  town,  where  a  church  is  being  completed 
at  the  time  of  our  writing.  It  is  a  frame  structure  with  Rectory 
attached.  Its  dimensions  are  39  feet  by  68,  and  is  to  be  named 
after  St.  Andrew. 

Since  the  latter  part  of  October,  1891,  a  resident  priest  has 
been  assigned  to  this  field,  and  with  this  new  provision  the 
Philipsburg  district  ceases  to  be  a  dependency  of  the  church  of 
Deer  Lodge  whence  it  was  attended  for  several  years. 

The  one  to  whom  this  portion  of  the  Lord's  vineyard  has  been 
recently  confided  is  the  Rev.  A.  H.  Lambaere,  a  young  and 
talented  missionary  priest,  hailing  from  Vlamerthinge,  West 
Flanders,  Belgium,  where  he  was  born  December  II,  1865.  He 
was  ordained  to  the  priesthood  in  the  American  College  at 
Louvain,  December  27,  1888,  and  not  quite  a  year  after  came  to 
Montana.  He  was  at  first  one  of  the  assistant  priests  at  the 
Cathedral  and  visited  during  that  time  as  a  missionary,  Great 
Falls,  where  he  built  a  church,  and  also  Boulder  Valley.  In 
January,  1891,  he  went  to  Bozeman,  whence  he  also  attended 
Three  Forks,  the  Boulder  and  Missouri  valleys  as  well  as  other 
stations,  till  his  appointment  to  the  Philipsburg  and  Granite 
Mission.  Father  Lambaere's  pastoral  care  extends  not  only  over 
the  faithful  of  the  twin  mining  towns  and  vicinity,  who  number 
close  to  one  thousand,  but  also  over  those  who  are  scattered 
through  Beaverhead  and  Madison,  since  both  these  counties  are 
now  attached  to  his  missionary  district. 

Another  flourishing  Mission  and  one  that  in  the  short  period 
of  its  existence  has  outgrown  the  older  settlements  of  Deer 
Lodge  County,  is  Anaconda.  Large  smelting  works  have  been 
established  here  by  the  Anaconda  Company,  a  concern  that  gives 
employment  to  thousands  of  men.  Many  of  these  laborers  being 
Catholics,  the  place  was  regularly  visited  from  Deer  Lodge  until 
the  expansion  of  the  works  and  the  number  of  our  people  being 
employed  therein  rendered  indispensable  the  permanent  residence 
of  a  priest.    The  Rev.  Peter  Desiere,  who  had  visited  Anaconda 


BUTTE,  ETC.  347 

from  Deer  Lodge,  where  he  had  been  residing  with  Father  De 
Ryckere  for  a  year  or  so,  was  appointed  to  the  spiritual  charge 
of  the  faithful  in  the  smelter  city. 

The  Rev.  P.  Desiere  is  a  veteran  of  learning,  tact  and  much 
experience,  counting  now  twenty-five  years'  efficient  service  in 
the  ministry.  He  was  born  at  Houthen,  in  Flanders,  Belgium, 
April  7,  1843.  After  six  years  of  Latin  at  Furnes,  he  entered 
the  higher  courses  at  Bruges,  and  received  the  priesthood 
December  21,  1867.  He  had  been  twelve  years  a  professor  at 
Dixmude,  and  four  years  Curate  at  Roulers  when  he  was  pro- 
moted to  the  pastorship  of  Westende.  This,  however,  he 
surrendered  four  years  after,  to  become  a  missionary  priest  in 
America,  leave  being  granted  him,  not  without  regret,  by  his 
ecclesiastical  Superiors.  His  proffered  services  were  gladly 
accepted  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  J.  B.  Brondel,  the  Bishop  of  Helena,  and 
coming  to  Montana  in  April,  1887,  he  was  first  assigned  to  Deer 
Lodge  as  assistant  to  Father  De  Ryckere.  Father  Desiere  did 
missionary  duty  for  a  few  months  at  Butte,  and  in  September, 
1888,  was  appointed  to  Anaconda  and  became  the  first  resident 
pastor  of  that  new  Catholic  community. 

The  neat  brick  church  erected  at  the  cost  of  some  $12,000, 
and  blessed  November  25,  1888,  under  the  title  of  St.  Paul,  a 
comfortable  pastoral  residence,  built  shortly  after,  St.  Ann's 
Hospital,  quite  recently  opened  under  the  management  of  the 
Sisters  of  Charity  of  Leavenworth;  and,  above  all,  a  well  organ- 
ized and  edifying  congregation,  are  substantial  evidence  of 
Father  Desiere's  zeal  and  efficient  work  at  Anaconda.  Nor 
should  we  omit  to  mention  that  visiting  the  Insane  Asylum  and 
Penitentiary,  two  State  institutions  located  in  this  part  of  Deer 
Lodge  County,  has  also  been  one  of  his  cares. 

At  the  close  of  1891  there  were  in  Anaconda  2,650  Catholics, 
with  the  following  number  of  baptisms  and  marriages  for  the 
last  three  years: 

Baptisms.         Marriages. 

1889    82  28 

1890   101  32 

1891    108  33 

The  last  church  to  be  mentioned  in  this  connection  is  the  one 
just  completed  by  Father  De  Ryckere  in  the  Flint  Creek  Valley, 


348        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

at  the  mouth  of  Douglass  Creek.  It  is  a  frame  building,  erected 
at  the  cost  of  nearly  $3,000,  and  will  be  a  great  boon  for  the 
Catholics  who  are  either  mining  or  farming  in  that  section.  It 
is  a  dependency  of  the  mother  church  of  Deer  Lodge  whence  it 
is  to  be  attended. 

The  number  of  baptisms  and  marriages  for  the  last  three  years 
in  the  now  reduced  district  of  the  Mission  of  Deer  Lodge — that 
is  to  say,  exclusive  of  Butte  and  Anaconda — has  been  as  follows : 

Baptisms.         Marriages. 

1889    61  11 

1890   68  8 

1891    80  14 

The  Catholics  in  the  same  district  numbered  in  1891  a  little 

over  2,000.  By  adding  these  and  the  faithful  of  Anaconda 
together,  it  will  be  seen  that  out  of  a  total  population  of  15,155, 
as  given  to  this  county  by  the  census  of  1890,  nearly  5,000,  that 
is,  about  one-fourth  of  the  whole  number  are  Catholics. 

To  complete  this  part  of  our  subject,  it  remains  to  speak  more 
in  full  of  the  portion  of  the  Deer  Lodge  Mission  which  has 
become  Silver  Bow  County. 


Chapter  XI. 
butte.     st.  Patrick's  mission,     st.  rose's,  dillon. 

SILVER  BOW  County,  of  which  Butte  City  with  its  surround- 
ings is  the  principal  part,  was  detached  from  the  County  of 
Deer  Lodge  in  1881.  The  name  "Silver  Bow"  originated  from 
the  happy  concurrence  of  several  elements. 

A  few  miles  southwest  of  Butte  a  beautiful  stream  bent  its 
course  gracefully  into  the  shape  of  an  Indian  bow.  The  silver 
of  the  name  was  derived  from  a  double  cause.  One  cloudy  day 
in  January,  1864,  four  miners  who  had  reached  a  point  near  the 
creek,  a  short  distance  from  Butte,  were  discussing  what  name 
should  be  given  to  the  place.  Just  at  this  very  moment  the  sun 
peeped  through  an  opening  in  the  clouds  and  glanced  upon  the 
waters  of  the  little  stream  as  they  embraced  in  their  graceful 
curve  the  spot  below.  That  bow-shaped  surface,  lit  up  by  the 
sun's  smile,  shone  forth  with  a  dazzling,  silver-like  brilliancy, 
and  the  four  men  had  but  to  pronounce  the  name  of  nature's  own 
coining.  Thus,  both  the  creek  and  new  mining  camp  were  called 
Silver  Bow,  whence  also  the  name  of  the  county. 

As  to  the  name  "Butte,"  it  was  taken  from  the  mound  or  butte 
north  of  the  original  town,  and  was  first  given  to  it  in  the  fall  of 
1864,  when,  upon  the  discovery  of  rich  placer  diggings  in  the 
vicinity,  the  first  mining  district  was  organized. 

Father  J.  Giorda  visited  Silver  Bow  May  15,  1865.  The  record 
in  his  own  hand  of  some  baptisms  which  he  performed  under 
that  date  in  oppido  Silver  Bow,  leaves  no  room  to  doubt  of  his 
having  been  there  at  this  time.  Father  F.  X.  Kuppens  in  his 
manuscript  notes  before  us,  claims  to  have  been  the  first  priest 
who  visited  Butte.  As  he  went  thither  on  a  hurried  sick-call 
in  the  summer  of  the  same  year,  1865,  it  may  be  inferred  from 
this  that  Father  Giorda  did  not  visit  Butte  when  passing  through 
Silver  Bow  that  year. 

With  the  summer  of  1866,  both  Butte  and  Silver  Bow  began 
to  be  attended  from  Deer  Lodge  up  to  March,  1881,  when,  as 


350        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

will  now  appear,  they  were  confined  to  the  spiritual  care  of  a 
resident  priest,  the  Rev.  Jas.  J.  Dols,  who  arrived  on  this  field 
March  8,  1881. 

The  new  Butte  pastor  was  an  athlete  no  less  in  moral  than 
physical  strength,  and  great  indeed  must  be  the  obstacle  which 
he  could  not  brush  aside  or  surmount  in  the  discharge  of  his 
missionary  calling.  The  Rev.  J.  J.  Dols  was  born  at  Sittard,  Hol- 
land, March  6,  1848.  He  studied  Latin,  partly  in  his  native 
city  and  partly  at  Veert,  then  philosophy  at  St.  Nicholas,  Bel- 
gium, lastly  divinity  at  both  the  American  College  and  the 
University  in  Louvain.  He  received  priestly  orders  in  1874  at 
Bruxelles  at  the  hands  of  the  Papal  Nuncio,  and  in  the  same 
year  he  came  to  America  as  a  missionary  priest  attached  to  the 
Archdiocese  of  Oregon.  After  spending  a  few  weeks  in  Port- 
land, Oregon,  he  was  stationed  for  three  years  at  McMinville, 
Yamhill  County,  where  he  built  the  first  church.  He  then 
labored  four  years  at  Gervais,  whence  he  came  to  Montana  in 
the  spring  of  1881. 

Butte  offered  a  splendid  field  to  the  ability  and  energy  of  this 
valiant  priest.  One  of  his  first  cares  was  to  secure  living 
quarters.  He  bought  a  modest,  comfortable  residence,  at  a  cost 
of  $3,000,  which  was  ready  for  occupancy  before  the  close  of 
the  year. 

In  a  mining  community  like  Butte,  where  accidents  to  limb 
and  life  were  without  number  and  almost  of  hourly  occurrence, 
the  need  of  a  Sisters'  Hospital  was  sorely  felt.  Steps  were  soon 
taken  by  Father  Dols  to  supply  this  great  want;  he  obtained  a 
colony  of  Sisters  of  Charity  from  the  Mother-House  at  Leaven- 
worth, Kansas.  The  Hospital  was  named  after  St.  James.  The 
Institution  received  its  first  patient  on  the  opening  day,  Novem- 
ber 15,  1 88 1.  Its  capacity  was  soon  taxed  to  its  utmost,  and  by 
1890  the  premises  were  expanded  to  twice  their  first  dimensions. 

By  1882-83  the  number  of  Catholics  in  Butte  had  so  increased, 
that  the  former  church  accommodations  became  utterly  inade- 
quate. Hence,  in  May,  1883,  Father  Dols,  assisted  by  Father 
De  Ryckere  and  Father  F.  Kelleher,  laid  the  corner-stone  of  a 
new  church  edifice.  It  was  ready  for  use  by  the  end  of  the  year, 
though  its  formal  dedication  did  not  take  place  till  September  17, 
1884.     The  new  St.  Patrick's  is  a  neat  brick  structure  on  a  stone 


SILVER  BOW  COUNTY  351 

foundation  and  with  cut  granite  facings.  Its  cost  was  in  the 
neighborhood  of  $18,000. 

The  field  having  become  too  large  for  one  priest,  the  Ordinary 
sought  to  give  Father  Dols  some  help.  But,  unfortunately,  the 
assistants  failed  to  assist  and  had  soon  to  be  dispensed  with, 
their  absence  being  preferable  and  more  serviceable  than  their 
presence.  Nor  was  this  the  only  unpleasant  experience  of  the 
Butte  church  at  this  time.  A  small  community  opened  there  a 
school,  but  under  auspices  that  were  not  favorable ;  their  mission, 
in  consequence,  proved  an  utter  failure. 

Considerable  dissatisfaction  with  Father  Dols  arose  anions; 
some  of  the  Butte  congregation  about  this  date.  At  first,  the 
discontent  could  scarcely  be  accounted  for.  Before  long,  how- 
ever, unlooked  for  events  revealed  the  cause,  malevolence  and 
evil  tongues  were  shown  to  be  at  the  bottom  of  it  all. 

That  on  one  occasion  by  publicly  disapproving  the  Holy  See, 
for  condemning  the  Plan  of  Campaign  and  "boycotting";  and 
again,  later  on,  by  upholding  in  opposition  to  the  Ordinary,  a 
clerical  tramp,  some  few  of  the  Butte  Catholics  have  not  shown 
the  filial  respect  and  docile  submission  due  to  ecclesiastical 
authority  by  loyal  children  of  the  Church,  is  a  matter  of  history 
and  much  to  be  regretted.  The  blame,  however,  should  be  made 
to  rest  where  it  properly  belongs,  that  is  to  say,  with  the  insig- 
nificant few,  and  not  be  laid  at  the  door  of  all  the  members  of 
that  excellent  and  edifying  Catholic  community. 

In  December,  1885,  the  Rev.  L.  S.  Tremblay,  from  French- 
town,  went  to  Butte  and  filled  for  about  a  year  the  place  of  Father 
Dols,  who  was  permitted  to  take  a  much  needed  rest  in  a 
protracted  visit  to  his  native  country.  Hard  work,  no  less  than 
the  noxious  mineral  fumes  of  that  smoky  city,  impaired  Father 
Tremblay's  health,  however,  and  he  was  called  to  Helena  for  a 
change.  He  thence  returned  to  his  former  Mission  of  French- 
town,  while  the  Rev.  H.  J.  van  de  Ven  was  now  given  charge 
of  the  Butte  congregation. 

The  Rev.  H.  J.  van  de  Ven  is  a  Hollander,  born  at  Hertogen- 
bosch,  October  3,  1856.  He  studied  Latin  in  the  diocesan  Sem- 
inary, St.  Michael's  Seminary,  at  Haaren,  and  was  raised  to  the 
priesthood  in  the  Cathedral  of  his  native  place,  June  11,  1881,  by 
the  Rt.  Rev.  A.  Godschalk.    In  November  of  that  same  year  he 


352        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

was  apointed  Curate  at  Allen,  whence  in  October,  1883,  he  was 
transferred  to  St.  Odenrode.  He  remained  there  up  to  May  1, 
1886,  when  he  entered  the  American  College  at  Louvain.  Here 
he  devoted  himself  for  several  months  to  the  study  of  English 
and  then  sailed  for  America,  arriving  at  Helena,  Montana, 
September  7,  1886,  whence,  shortly  before  Christmas,  he  was 
appointed  to  St.  Patrick's,  Butte,  a  charge  he  held  and  creditably 
filled  for  years. 

About  the  middle  of  September,  1888,  he  was  given  an 
assistant  in  the  Rev.  Victor  van  den  Broeck,  who  remained  on  the 
Butte  Mission  about  three  years.  Father  van  den  Broeck  is  a 
native  of  Halle,  Belgium,  where  he  was  born  October  16,  1863. 
He  studied  Latin  and  philosophy  at  Mechlin,  after  which  he 
entered  the  American  College  at  Louvain,  where  he  made  his 
theological  course  and  where,  June  24,  1887,  he  received  his 
ordination  to  the  priesthood.  Upon  his  arrival  in  Montana,  in 
the  early  part  of  September  of  the  same  year,  he  became  one  of 
the  assistant  clergy  at  the  Helena  Cathedral,  and  attended  Great 
Falls,  White  Sulphur  Springs,  Three  Forks,  the  Gallatin  and 
Jefferson  valleys,  as  well  as  other  outlying  stations.  While  here 
in  Butte  he  visited  for  a  time  the  Catholic  settlements  in 
Beaverhead  and  Madison  Counties,  Laurin,  Virginia,  Dillon 
and  other  places.  We  shall  meet  again  with  this  young 
and  zealous  missionary  priest  at  Miles  City,  where,  early  in 
September,  1891,  he  succeeded  Father  Cyril  Pauwelyn  who  had 
been  transferred  to  the  Butte  Mission. 

A  diminutive  personality,  but  possessed  withal  of  considerable 
activity,  has  won  for  Father  Pauwelyn  the  complimentary  sobri- 
quet of  "Ecclesiastical  Beaver."  He  was  born  at  Poelcapelle, 
West  Flanders,  Belgium,  April  26,  1863.  After  his  humanities 
made  at  Ypres,  he  studied  philosophy  at  Roulers,  and  then  the- 
ology, partly  in  the  Seminary  of  Bruges,  and  partly  in  the 
American  College  at  Louvain.  He  left  Europe  for  the  United 
States  in  company  with  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Junger,  who  was 
then  returning  from  Rome,  and  arrived  in  Helena  the  latter  part 
of  September,  1885. 

Father  Pauwelyn  was  still  a  Deacon  at  the  time.  He  received 
his  priestly  orders  at  Helena  from  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Brondel 
on  the  29th  of  the  following  November,  and  he  has,  thus,  the 


The  Rev.  Cyril  Pauwelyn 
first  secular  priest  ordaineo  in  montana 


The  Rev.  John  J.  Venneman 

A   ZEALOUS  ,NORTHWEST   MISSIONARY 


SILVER  BOW  COUNTY  353 

privilege  of  being  the  first  priest  of  the  Helena  Diocese  to  be 
ordained  in  the  Cathedral  of  the  Sacred  Hearts  and  in  Montana.* 

Soon  after  his  ordination,  Father  Pauwelyn  entered  upon  the 
duties  of  active  missionary  life,  and  attended  for  about  two 
years  all  the  principal  settlements  along  the  Northern  Pacific 
Railroad  to  the  east  of  Helena  as  far  as  the  Dakota  boundary, 
and  also  some  of  the  outlying  settlements  and  camps  in  this 
vicinity.  In  October,  1887,  he  was  assigned  to  Miles  City,  where 
he  remained  up  to  September,  1891,  when  he  was  transferred 
to  Butte. 

Keeping  pace  with  the  growth  of  this  phenomenal  mining 
city,  substantial  improvements  were  made  at  this  period  both  in 
the  pastoral  residence  and  in  the  Sisters'  Hospital  at  a  consid- 
erable outlay  of  money.  While  the  priests'  house  was  remod- 
eled and  rendered  more  comfortable  and  complete  in  its  appoint- 
ments, the  Sisters  enlarged  St.  James'  Hospital  to  more  than 
twice  its  former  capacity,  making  it  an  up-to-date  institution  in 
every  respect. 

But  what  reflects  most  credit  on  Father  van  de  Ven  is  St. 
Patrick's  Parochial  School,  a  priceless  boon  for  the  Catholic 
youth  of  Butte.  It  is  a  large  imposing  pile  and  truly  fills  a  crying 
want,  as  may  be  inferred  from  the  large  attendance  of  pupils, 
who  number  at  this  writing  about  four  hundred. 

It  is  rarely,  however,  that  any  substantial  good  can  be  accom- 
plished without  some  difficulty  and  trouble,  and  the  building  of 
St.  Patrick's  Parochial  School  proved  no  exception. 

Its  erection  had  been  authorized  and  encouraged  by  the  Ordi- 
nary, but  its  proportions  were  to  be  on  a  much  smaller  scale, 
owing  to  his  dread  lest  any  of  the  churches  under  his  care  should 
run  into  debt.  On  the  other  hand,  both  the  local  pastor  and  the 
leading  Catholics  of  the  place  realized  the  need  of  larger  school 
accommodations  than  were  sanctioned  by  the  Bishop,  and, 
besides,  the  members  of  the  Butte  Congregation  seemed  willing 
and  ready  to  bear  all  the  cost. 

Upon  these  representations,   the   Bishop   relaxed  his   former 

*  Another  ordination  to  the  priesthood,  the  first  ever  held  in  our  State,  had 
taken  place  in  the  same  Cathedral  a  couple  of  months  before.  It  was  that 
of  Stephen  De  Rouge,  S.  J.,  to  whom  therefore  belongs  the  honor  of  being 
the  first  priest  ordained  in  the  Helena  Cathedral  and  in  Montana. 


354        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

restrictions  and  left  the  matter  to  a  great  extent  in  the  hands 
of  the  Pastor  and  the  Building  Committee.  Structure  and  fur- 
nishings cost  in  the  neighborhood  of  $75,000,  about  half  of  which 
amount  was  met  by  subscriptions,  donations,  fairs  and  like 
resources.  There  remained  on  the  school  an  indebtedness  of 
some  $40,000,  no  light  burden,  for  sure,  but  yet  bearable  under 
actual  conditions.  For,  considering  the  good  prospects  of  the 
mines,  the  number  of  Catholics,  as  well  as  their  prosperity,  the 
debt  could  be  discharged  within  a  very  reasonable  time. 

But,  somehow,  the  Bishop  appeared  to  be  left,  at  least  partly, 
in  the  dark  about  the  total  cost  of  the  school  and  furnishings, 
and  felt  decidedly  displeased  when  the  amount  due  on  the  institu- 
tion came  to  his  knowledge.  The  same  may  be  said  of  a  large 
portion  of  the  Butte  Congregation,  who  freely  expressed  their 
surprise  and  dissatisfaction  over  the  matter.  Statements  had 
been  made  to  them  seemingly  at  variance  with  the  facts,  or  if  the 
statements  were  correct,  they  could  hardly  have  been  more  mis- 
understood. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  the  financial  state  of  the  school  became 
generally  known  just  when  the  Pastor  had  gone  on  a  leave  of 
absence  to  visit  his  people  in  the  old  country,  and  Father  P. 
Desire,  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  Anaconda,  had  been  designated  as 
his  successor  at  St.  Patrick's. 

On  becoming  aware  of  the  heavy  debt  hanging  over  the  school, 
Father  Desire  felt  perplexed,  and  hesitated  considerably  about 
accepting  the  new  appointment.  It  was  during  this  interval  that 
Bishop  Brondel  conceived  the  idea  of  inviting  to  Butte  the 
Redemptorist  Fathers,  feeling  it  too  heavy  a  responsibility  upon 
his  soul  to  leave  so  many  of  his  flock  without  proper  spiritual 
care.  No  sooner,  however,  had  Father  Desire  consented  to 
assume  charge  of  St.  Patrick's,  than  the  project  of  bringing  in 
the  Religious  was  dropped  by  the  Ordinary. 

But  as  he  still  worried  over  the  debt,  Bishop  Brondel  thought 
it  advisable  to  have  the  Hon.  T.  H.  Carter  confer  with  our  Butte 
people  on  the  subject.  There  was  good  reason  to  hope  that  Mr. 
Carter's  suggestions,  while  practical  and  conducive  to  the  end 
in  view,  would  also  be  received  even  more  readily  than  if  com- 
ing directly  from  the  Ordinary  himself,  as  just  at  this  time  some 
few  of  the  Butte  Congregation  did  not  appear  to  be  so  well  dis- 


SILVER  BOW  COUNTY  355 

posed  toward  their  chief  Pastor  as  they  ought  to  have  been. 
Mr.  Carter,  however,  was  then  in  politics,  and  his  opponents 
looked  upon  his  going  to  Butte  on  the  occasion  as  a  move  to 
boost  political  aspirations,  which  was  enough  to  render  his  mis- 
sion pretty  much  of  a  failure. 

The  Pastor  was  silenced,  perhaps  somewhat  too  hastily,  for 
overstepping  directions  and  not  placing  matters  clearly  before 
his  ecclesiastical  superior.  Charges  of  misappropriation  of  funds 
in  connection  with  the  building  of  the  school  were  also  preferred 
against  him,  which,  however,  were  all  disproved  by  proper 
receipts  and  vouchers. 

The  final  result  of  the  unpleasant  and  regrettable  incident  was 
the  loss  to  the  Helena  Diocese  of  the  services  of  a  zealous,  pop- 
ular and  efficient  worker,  who  now  passed  to  labor  in  another 
field. 

The  new  Parochial  School  has  been  confided  to  the  Sisters 
of  Leavenworth,  who  are  ably  conducting  it.  The  one  in  charge 
and  the  head  of  the  teaching  staff  is  Sister  Loretto,  who  will  be 
remembered  as  one  of  the  pioneer  Sisters  that  came  to  Helena 
in  the  fall  of  1869.  After  teaching  for  a  time  at  St.  Vincent's 
Academy,  this  city,  she  was  put  in  charge  of  St.  John's  Hospital, 
where  she  won  the  esteem  and  respect  of  all  our  people.  In 
1875  she  was  recalled  to  Kansas,  whence  she  returned  to  Mon- 
tana, having  been  appointed  to  conduct  St.  Patrick's  School  in 
Butte. 

Butte's  Catholic  population  is  reckoned  today  at  nine  thou- 
sand, and  here  is  the  number  of  baptisms  and  marriages  recorded 
in  St.  Patrick's  Church  during  the  last  three  years : 

Baptisms     Marriages 

1 889    314  96 

1890    322  91 

1891    433  91 

With  this  we  close  the  narrative  of  both  the  Butte  Church 

and  the  Deer  Lodge  Mission,  the  latter,  as  we  have  seen,  being 
the  parent  of  the  former.  And  not  of  the  former  only,  but  also 
of  many  other  churches  sprung  up  in  this  section  of  western 
Montana.  Which  is  indeed  no  small  honor  for  Deer  Lodge  and 
no  small  credit  for  Father  De  Ryckere,  its  founder. 

Upon  his  return   from  Europe,   in  September,    1886,  Father 


356        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

J.  J.  Dols  took  the  spiritual  charge  of  the  Catholics  in  Beaver- 
head and  Madison  Counties,  to  which  field  he  had  been  assigned 
previous  to  his  journey  abroad. 

At  first  he  made  his  residence  at  Laurin,  where  he  built  a 
little  house,  costing  $1,000.  Later  on,  he  constructed  a  small 
brick  church,  with  a  small  annex  in  the  rear  for  a  rectory  at 
Dillon,  a  new  town  and  the  seat  of  Beaverhead  County.  The 
funds  for  the  structure  were  supplied  him  by  the  generous  con- 
tributions of  the  people  of  the  two  counties,  irrespective  of  creed. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  non-Catholic  contributors  to  the  work  were 
in  the  majority.  The  new  church  edifice  was  blessed  and  dedi- 
cated August  19,  1887,  under  the  name  and  patronage  of  St. 
Rose  of  Lima,  an  American  Saint. 

Father  Dols  labored  on  this  field  with  zeal  and  success  four 
years,  the  homes  of  Catholics  and  non-Catholics  alike  being  open 
to  him. 

The  Helena  Diocese  at  this  date  had  as  yet  too  few  priests 
to  provide  for  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  whole  community  whose 
numbers  were  everywhere  on  the  increase.  Northern  Montana, 
especially,  had  now  a  larger  percentage  of  Catholics  than  the 
country  attended  from  Dillon.  Hence  in  February,  1891,  Father 
Dols  was  transferred  to  Great  Falls,  and  the  Dillon  district  had 
to  be  visited  first  from  Butte,  then  from  Deer  Lodge,  and  lastly 
from  Granite. 


Chapter  XII. 

MISSION  OF  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER,  MISSOULA. 

THE  original  area  of  the  county  has  been  placed  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  30,000  square  miles.  Its  white  population  in 
1880  numbered  but  2,537.  ^n  tne  next  official  census,  that  of 
1890,  it  had  increased  to  14,427.  Coming  down  to  but  one  year 
from  the  closing  date  of  our  chronicle,  the  figures  just  quoted 
may  well  be  taken  as  a  fair  reckoning  of  the  number  of  whites 
in  the  county  at  the  time  of  our  first  writing.  Since  then,  as  all 
over  the  rest  of  the  state,  the  population  has  been  on  a  steady 
increase,  so  that  three  new  counties,  Ravalli,  Flathead  and  San- 
ders, have  been,  in  part  at  least,  carved  out  of  the  original 
County  of  Missoula. 

The  name  Missoula  is  beyond  doubt  of  Indian  origin,  an'd  no 
less  significant  than  historical.  It  comes  directly  from  the  follow- 
ing Flat  Head  word,  Im-i-sul-e'tiku,  which  is  composed  of 
several  parts,  and  goes  to  show  the  wonderful  structure  of  the 
Flat  Head  language. 

Its  initial  /  is  a  preposition,  standing  for  "in,  at,  near  or  by." 
The  Kalispels  and  Spokanes  use  more  commonly  n  in  its  stead. 
The  i  is  a  prefix,  meaning,  "very,  truly,  altogether,"  and  thus 
emphasizing  the  significance  of  the  radical  or  root-word,  to 
which  it  is  prefixed.  The  root-word  or  radical  in  the  name 
before  us  is  sul,  which  means  "cold,  chilly,"  both  in  the  literal 
sense,  as  "cold  water,  a  cold  room ;"  and  also  metaphorically,  as 
"cold,  chilled  with  fear."  Hence  emphasized  by  the  prefix  i, 
i-siil  means  "truly  cold  or  very  chilly"  in  the  literal  sense,  whilst 
in  its  metaphorical  sense  it  conveys  the  idea  of  great  fear,  aris- 
ing from  danger  of  impending  evil. 

From  the  root-word  sul  the  Flat  Heads  form  two  verbs,  one 
intransitive  or  passive;  the  other,  transitive.  The  former  is 
i-chin-sul,  meaning,  "I  am  or  feel  very  cold"  in  the  literal  sense; 
or  "I  am  frightened,  chilled  with  dread"  in  the  figurative  sense. 
The  transitive  verb  is  Yess-ul'em,  and  means,  "to  take  by  sur- 


358        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

prise,  to  chill  with  right,"  and  whose  future  tense  is  nm-iss-u'lem. 
Note  that  s  with  the  Flat  Heads  is  always  hard  and  equivalent  to 
ss,  as  here  written. 

The  last  part  of  the  Indian  word  under  consideration  is  etiku, 
which  signifies  "water."  The  Flat  Heads  have  two  nouns  for 
water,  seulqu  and  etiku,  using  the  former  always  by  itself; 
whereas  they  never  employ  the  latter,  save  in  composition  with 
other  words.  Hence  it  is  frequently  contracted  in  composition, 
that  is,  its  first  syllable  alone  e,  but  strongly  accented,  is  appended 
to  and  made  the  ending  of  the  compound,  while  the  other  two 
syllables,  tiku,  are  dropped  altogether.  All  this  is  gathered  from 
the  Dictionary  of  the  Flat  Head  Language,  compiled  by  Jesuit 
Missionaries,  and  which  has  been  mentioned  in  Part  I  of  this 
work. 

As  already  stated,  the  letter  /  when  used  as  a  prefix,  as  in  the 
present  case,  stands  for  "at,  by,  near."  We  have,  then,  Im-i-sul- 
etiku  and  lm-i-sul-e' ,  two  forms  of  one  and  the  same  noun,  the 
former  entire,  the  other  contracted.  They  are  indifferently  in 
constant  use  by  the  Flat  Heads,  and  the  writer  has  heard  them 
countless  times  from  their  own  lips.  The  meaning,  then,  of  the 
word  in  question  is,  "by  or  near  the  cold,  chilling  waters."  But 
in  what  sense  did  the  Indians  use  here  the  term,  literally,  or 
metaphorically?  For,  as  we  have  seen,  it  could  be  used  in  one 
way  as  well  as  the  other.  Did  they  intend  to  express  the  cool, 
natural  property  of  some  waters  or  stream,  or  rather  the  chill- 
ing experience  which  they  had  often  encountered,  and  were  liable 
to  encounter  again,  near  some  particular  stream? 

There  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  the  latter,  and  not  the 
former,  was  their  meaning.  First,  because  the  waters  of  moun- 
tain streams  in  this  latitude  and  vicinity  are  all  pretty  much  of 
the  same  temperature.  Why,  then,  should  any  of  them  be 
specially  designated  by  a  property  common  to  all? 

But  what  places  the  point  beyond  controversy  is  the  fact  that 
Iroquois,  half-breeds,  white  trappers  and  traders  who  lived  or 
mingled  with  the  Flat  Heads,  and  could  not  but  know  what  these 
intended  to  signify  by  the  word,  all  understood  and  rendered  it 
in  French  and  English  by  "Porte  d'Enfer"  and  "Hell's  Gate." 
Who  can  question  that  by  doing  so,  that  is,  by  translating  the 
Indian  term  as  they  did,  those  people  sought  to  express,  after 


MISSION  OF  ST.  FRANCIS  XA  VIER,  MISSOULA  359 

the  white  man's  way,  what  was  really  meant  by  the  natives, 
namely,  a  locality  or  "waters"  of  ill-omen,  of  danger  and  impend- 
ing evil? 

The  place  or  "waters"  so  designated  by  the  Flat  Heads  was 
the  canyon,  whose  mouth  or  west  entrance  opens  out  a  very 
short  way  from  where  the  Rattlesnake  enters  into  the  larger 
stream,  some  few  hundred  yards  from  the  center  of  the  original 
townsite  of  Missoula.  For  the  Flat  Heads  and  other  tribes  west 
of  the  main  range,  the  canyon  was  the  natural  gateway  to  the 
buffalo  plains,  east  of  the  Rockies.  But  whilst  so,  it  was  also  a 
dangerous  piece  of  country  for  them  to  pass  through,  owing  to  its 
being  the  best  vantage  ground  for  their  deadly  foes,  the  Black- 
feet  and  Piegans,  to  ambush  them  on  their  way  to,  or  when 
returning  from  the  buffalo  chase.  Today  the  canyon  is  bare  of 
all  available  timber,  whereas  within  the  writer's  own  memory  it 
was  still  thickly  wooded  and  a  real  forest.  Large  war  parties, 
on  the  occasions  just  mentioned,  would  be  lurking  in  those  woods, 
in  the  fastnesses  and  narrow  passes  of  the  long  defile,  to  attack 
and  oppose  the  Flat  Heads  and  all  western  Indians  from  going 
through. 

All  this,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  is  Indian  history,  albeit  unwritten. 
And  hence  the  name  which  our  Indians  gave  the  canyon  and  its 
waters,  Im-i-sul-e,  and  which  is  the  equivalent  of  "Hell's  Gate" 
or  "Porte  d'Enfer,"  as  these  expressions  are  often  used  and 
understood  by  the  white  man.  Naturally  enough,  the  ominous 
appellation  passed  to  the  first  white  settlement  sprung  up  in  the 
vicinity,  some  five  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  canyon.  It  was 
shared  in  by  the  river  and  by  the  whole  valley  as  well,  in  both  its 
French  and  English  renderings,  one  and  all  being  still  called 
after  "Hell's  Gate"  and  "Porte  d'Enfer"  by  old-timers. 

Missoula,  then,  is  the  aboriginal  Im-i-sul-e,  only  polished  some- 
what and  euphonized.  There  can  be  no  question  about  it.  But 
whilst  so,  the  meaning  of  the  original  Indian  word  has  been 
entirely  reversed.  It  first  stood  for  a  place  of  danger  and  evil 
omen,  it  now  means  a  favored  spot,  a  thriving,  hospitable  com- 
munity, with  a  bright,  promising  future  ahead.  It  then  meant 
wild,  desolate  surroundings,  the  haunts  of  deadly  foes.  It  means 
today  the  "Garden  City  of  Montana;"  a  title  indeed  which  it 
fully  deserves  at  this  time  of  our  second  writing. 


360       CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

The  beginning  of  Missoula  dates  from  the  winter  of  1864-65, 
when  C.  P.  Higgins,  born  of  Catholic  parentage,  and  Frank 
Worden,  his  partner  in  business,  erected  a  sawmill,  and  soon 
after  also  a  grist  mill,  on  the  present  site  of  the  town.  Whence 
the  first  name  of  the  place,  Missoula-Mills,  by  which,  however, 
it  went  only  a  short  time,  since  the  Mills  appendix  was  dropped 
very  soon  after.  From  the  Hell's  Gate  village,  some  four  and 
a  half  miles  below,  where  they  had  been  trading  since  the  sum- 
mer of  i860,  C.  P.  Higgins  and  Frank  Worden  moved  their 
store  closer  to  the  mills,  and  thus  became  the  first  permanent 
residents,  as  well  as  the  real  founders  of  the  new  community. 

In  1866  Missoula  became  the  county  seat,  which  gave  the 
embryo  town  a  decided  impulse  toward  substantial  growth. 
Necessarily,  however,  its  progress  could  be  only  gradual,  owing 
to  its  distance  from  the  mines,  and  its  being  situated  in  the  least 
settled  part  of  the  territory.  Still,  the  advantage  of  its  location 
otherwise,  that  is,  with  regard  to  the  country  south,  west  and 
north  of  it,  all  rich  in  varied  and  virgin  resources,  and  of  which 
it  is  the  natural  centre,  cannot  fail  to  make  Missoula  in  the 
near  future  one  of  the  most  prominent  communities  of  Montana. 
At  this  time  of  our  first  writing  it  has  a  population  of  some  5,000 
souls,  with  every  prospect  of  doubling  and  trebling  the  number 
in  the  short  space  of  a  few  years. 

The  beginning  of  the  local  history  of  the  Misosula  Mission 
may  also  be  traced  from  the  Hell's  Gate  settlement. 

Here,  as  previously  related,  a  church  for  the  white  settlers  was 
erected  in  1863,  by  Father  U.  Grassi,  at  the  time  in  charge  of 
the  Indian  Mission  of  Saint  Ignatius.  In  the  spring  of  1866  two 
Fathers  from  the  Mission  of  Saint  Peter,  and  whose  closing  we 
chronicled  in  Part  I,  were  appointed  to  this  new  field,  the 
Hell's  Gate  district,  at  least  for  the  time  being.  Someone  record- 
ing the  fact  at  the  time  added  in  prayerful  humor:  A  porta 
inferi  erne,  Domine,  aminos  eorum  (From  the  gate  of  hell,  O 
Lord,  deliver  their  souls).  Record-books  were  still  scarce  in  the 
Indian  Missions  at  that  date,  as  the  entry  just  quoted  appears  in 
the  Register  of  Baptisms  for  the  Mission  of  St.  Peter. 

The  two  Fathers  assigned  to  Hell's  Gate  were  Anthony  Ravalli 
and  Camillus  Imoda,  but  as  they  were  hardly  a  week  there  when 
Father  C.  Imoda  was  recalled  and  sent  to  Helena,  Father  Ravalli 


MISSION  OF  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER,  MISSOULA  361 

is  properly  the  one  entitled  to  the  credit  of  being  the  first  resi- 
dent priest  on  the  Hell's  Gate  and  Missoula  Mission.  There  he 
resided  about  three  years,  doing  much  good  both  as  zealous  mis- 
sionary as  well  as  a  skillful  physician.  In  the  former  capacity, 
he  went  about  looking  for  souls  to  save,  in  the  latter,  he  was 
more  frequently  sought  after,  people  coming  or  being  brought 
to  him  from  near  and  from  afar  to  be  relieved  in  their  bodily 
ailments.  His  abode,  a  little  log  cabin  by  the  church,  was  thus 
frequently  turned  into  an  infirmary,  and  may  be  said  to  have 
been  the  first  private  hospital  in  this  part  of  the  country.  Hardly 
one  entered  it  who  did  not  come  out  improved,  repaired,  mended, 
and  sometime,  if  we  can  use  the  expression,  made  all  over,  both 
body  and  soul. 

While  on  this  field,  one  of  his  first  recruits  was  Mrs.  Sims,  a 
convert,  whom  he  baptized  in  the  little  log  church  of  St. 
Michael,  October  1,  1866,  General  Thomas  Francis  Meagher  and 
wife  being  the  sponsors.  An  imperial  folio  would  not  suffice  to 
detail  all  that  is  implied  in  this  brief  historical  item. 

It  is  here  well  to  relate,  that,  though  assigned  to  St.  Mary's 
from  its  first  reopening,  Father  Ravalli  did  not  move  thither  till 
some  two  years  after,  that  is,  till  a  dwelling  had  been  provided, 
as  nothing  of  the  kind  had  been  left  on  the  place.  Father 
Giorda  and  Brother  Claessens  lived  much  of  that  time  in  a  small 
cabin,  the  home  of  an  Indian,  who  turned  it  over  to  them  for 
their  temporary  use. 

During  his  stay  at  Hell's  Gate,  Father  Ravalli  dispensed  the 
ministrations  of  religion,  not  only  to  the  few  Catholics  of  that 
settlement,  but  also  to  those  at  the  lower  end  of  the  valley,  our 
Frenchtown  people,  and  likewise  to  a  couple  of  families  at  Mis- 
soula, at  this  time  still  in  its  infancy.  On  his  moving  up  to 
St.  Mary's,  the  spiritual  care  of  the  whole  district  fell  to  Father 
Menetrey,  who  off  and  on,  held  it  for  a  number  of  years. 

Missoula,  in  the  meantime,  was  gradually  forging  ahead,  and 
by  1868-69  ^  nad  outgrown  both  the  Hell's  Gate  village,  from 
which  it  had  sprung,  as  well  as  Frenchtown.  But  somehow,  to 
these  two  older  settlements  had  fallen  the  privilege  of  having, 
not  only  churches,  but  also  a  Father  to  attend  them,  and  whose 
residence  was  located  in  the  first  of  the  two  places  just  men- 
tioned.    Hence  services  continued  to  be  held  in  those  older  com- 


362        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

munities,  and,  as  a  consequence,  for  several  years  the  Catholics 
of  Missoula  had  no  other  church  facilities  than  St.  Michael's, 
at  Hell's  Gate,  where  a  few  of  them,  who  were  able  to  do  so, 
would  occasionally  congregate  to  hear  Mass  on  Sunday. 

This  proved  a  great  inconvenience  for  them,  and  became  more 
so  as  their  number  increased.  But  neither  could  matters  be 
remedied,  these  being,  as  they  seem  to  have  been,  the  necessary 
result  of  unavoidable  conditions.  Priority,  as  well  as  possession, 
substantiated  in  churches  already  built,  insufficient  number  of 
laborers  on  the  field,  higher  authorities,  very  chary  of  any  new 
step  apt  to  weaken  or  hamper  missionary  work  among  the 
Indians,  and  lastly,  the  nearness  of  the  two  localities,  Missoula 
and  Hell's  Gate  being  only  some  four  miles  apart,  and,  conse- 
quently, near  enough  to  be  both  attended  without  having  to  pro- 
vide new  and  special  facilities  in  favor  of  Missoula — all  seemed 
to  combine  to  hinder  and  retard  giving  our  people  in  the  latter 
locality  better  advantages  for  the  practice  of  their  religion. 

The  first  move  in  this  direction  was  made  in  1872-73,  and 
seemingly  by  contraband,  as  it  were,  but  yet  not  without  clear 
indications  of  its  having  been  disposed  and  prompted  from  on 
hisrh,  as  will  now  be  seen  from  the  narrative. 

Mother  Caron,  the  Mother  General  of  the  Sisters  of  Prov- 
idence, in  1872  came  from  Montreal  to  Montana  to  visit  the 
colony  of  her  Sisters  at  the  Indian  Mission  of  St.  Ignatius, 
where,  as  narrated  in  the  first  part  of  our  chronicle,  they  were 
established  since  the  summer  of  1864.  The  good  Mother  felt 
deeply  impressed  by  the  environment,  and,  above  all,  by  the  isola- 
tion of  the  little  community  in  the  heart  of  the  Rockies  and  so 
far  away  from  any  other  House  of  the  Order.  It  was,  further, 
God's  disposition  that  she  should  meet  here  with  a  serious  mis- 
hap, which  forcibly  accentuated  that  first  impression,  since  the 
accident  made  her  realize  by  her  own  personal  experience,  much 
more  vividly,  the  disadvantages  of  the  isolation. 

Whilst  helping  in  the  kitchen,  as  she  was  standing  between  the 
stove  and  an  open  trap-door  that  led  into  the  cellar  beneath,  on 
stepping  backward  without  advertence  to  the  treacherous  open- 
ing, the  Reverend  Mother  fell  through  and  broke  her  arm  in 
the  fall. 

This  untoward  occurrence,  which  happened  December  7,  1872, 


MISSION  OF  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER,  MISSOULA  363 

compelled  Mother  Caron  to  pass  the  whole  of  that  winter  at 
St.  Ignatius,  and  her  long  stay  in  that  solitary  spot  made 
her  feel  more  and  more  keenly  the  lonesomeness  of  her  Sisters, 
and  the  many  drawbacks  attendant  thereon.  If  only  another 
House  of  the  Order  could  be  located  within  a  reasonable  dis- 
tance! The  two  Houses  would  temper,  at  least  somewhat,  each 
other's  isolation.  It  would  then  be  practicable  for  their  mem- 
bers to  meet  occasionally,  or  to  be  relieved  by  a  timely  change, 
and  the  like. 

All  this,  and  much  more  implied  therein,  will  be  easily  under- 
stood when  it  is  known  that  no  letter  correspondence  short  of 
sixty  days  could  then  be  had  by  the  Sisters  at  St.  Ignatius  and 
the  Provincial  House  at  Vancouver,  Wash.,  whereas,  they  could 
correspond  in  less  time  by  about  one-third  with  the  Mother  House 
at  Montreal,  although  more  distant  by  many  hundred  miles  than 
Vancouver.  Hence,  as  this  latter  place,  though  much  nearer, 
was  nevertheless  less  accessible  than  distant  Montreal,  the  little 
colony  of  St.  Ignatius  remained  for  many  years  directly 
dependent  on  the  Mother  House  at  Montreal,  instead  of  being 
attached  to  the  Province  of  Vancouver. 

The  writer,  at  the  time  in  charge  of  the  Mission,  fully  coin- 
cided with  Mother  Caron's  views  about  the  matter,  although  the 
realization  of  any  such  plan  appeared  very  far  off  indeed  under 
existing  conditions.  Still,  it  occurred  to  him  that  Missoula,  a 
new  and  promising  community,  would  be  the  right  place  where 
the  contemplated  branch-House  could  be  established.  He  felt, 
besides,  that  if  the  thing  came  to  pass  it  would  also  bring  to 
our  Missoula  Catholics,  without  fail,  what  they  stood  much  in 
need  of,  the  services  of  a  resident  priest. 

Entering  into  the  project  in  real  earnest,  Mother  Caron  laid 
the  matter  before  her  Councilors  in  Montreal,  and  also  before 
Father  Giorda,  the  Superior  of  the  Missions.  The  former  fully 
approved  the  plan,  whilst  the  latter,  without  disapproving  it, 
thought  its  execution  premature.  The  reason  was  obvious,  the 
going  of  the  Sisters  to  Missoula  would  require  at  once  the  serv- 
ices of  a  resident  priest,  and  there  were  not  in  Montana  Fathers 
enough  to  locate  one  in  the  new  town.  Still,  as  he  declared,  "all 
concerned  in  the  project  were  left  to  the  wisdom  of  their 
counsels." 


364       CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

Asked  by  Mother  Caron  whether  the  Sisters,  if  they  went  to 
Missoula,  could  have  one  of  the  Fathers  visit  them  at  least 
once  a  month,  until  more  for  them  could  be  done  in  this  regard, 
Father  Giorda  was  understood  to  answer  in  the  affirmative, 
although  a  monthly  visit,  he  felt,  would  not  suffice,  and  could  be 
no  adequate  provision. 

All  in  all,  a  look  of  hopefulness  seemed  to  light  up  the  plan. 
And  hence  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  secure,  as  soon  as  conveni- 
ent, a  site  whereon  the  projected  institution  could  be  located, 
when  the  proper  time  to  start  it  should  arrive.  Accordingly,  the 
writer  betook  himself  to  Missoula  and  purchased  of  W.  J. 
McCormick  and  wife  a  parcel  of  ground  in  the  west  end  of  the 
townsite,  the  ground  consisting  of  two  regular  blocks,  each  of 
them  being  further  augmented  by  six  lots  additional,  which  made 
the  ground  purchased  equivalent  to  two  and  one-half  blocks. 
Pine  Street,  running  between  the  two  parcels,  was  not  yet  open. 
But  its  prolongation  might  likely  be  required  at  some  future  date, 
and  that  before  long.  Hence  a  clause  covering  this  point  was 
made  part  of  the  conveyance. 

With  the  ground  went  also  a  good  frame  building,  which 
stood  on  the  block  south  of  the  street  line,  where  it  had  been 
erected  for  a  private  residence  some  two  years  before.  But 
though  finished,  it  had  never  been  tenanted.  The  structure  was 
roomy,  comparatively  new,  and  ready  for  occupancy  at  any 
moment.  The  property  was  secured  for  church,  school  and 
hospital  purposes,  at  a  cash  consideration  of  $1,500  in  round 
figures,  the  amount  being  less,  as  it  would  seem,  than  the  house 
alone  had  cost  the  owners. 

Later  on,  by  agreement  of  all  concerned,  both  parcels  of  ground 
were  deeded  over  to  the  Sisters  of  Providence,  one  whole  block 
being  required  for  the  hospital  and  the  other  for  the  academy. 
The  Sisters  substituted  in  exchange  another  church  site,  the 
block  across  the  way,  and  a  little  nearer  to  the  center  of  town. 

When  securing  the  location,  the  writer  did  not  so  much  as 
dream  that  things  would  so  soon  take  the  turn  which  they  now 
did.  But  Mother  Caron,  after  much  deliberating  over  the  project, 
had  determined  on  its  speedy  execution,  and  she  herself  would 
see  it  carried  through  before  leaving  Montana.     That  such  a 


Mother  Caron 


Mother  Mary  Julian 


TWO    MOTHER   GENERALS   OF   THE    SISTERS    OF   CHARITY   OF   PROVIDENCE, 
WHO   WON   THEIR   SPURS   IN    MONTANA 


MISSION  OF  ST.  FRANCIS  XA  VIER,  MISSO ULA  365 

determination  on  her  part  was  highly  commendable  has  always 
been  the  writer's  conviction. 

Communities  of  religious  women  given  to  an  active  life  and 
endowed  with  a  missionary  spirit  are  one  of  the  brightest  glories 
of  God's  Church  in  the  more  recent  times  of  her  history,  and 
their  influence  and  services  in  the  cause  of  religion  and  educa- 
tion, or  in  behalf  of  suffering  humanity  cannot  be  overrated. 
Praying  or  teaching,  at  home,  or  in  the  public  streets  on  their 
errands  of  mercy,  nursing  the  sick  or  caring  for  the  waifs  of 
humanity,  these  valiant  women,  because  of  their  saintly  lives 
and  even  by  their  very  garb,  everywhere  led  souls  to  the  knowl- 
edge, love  and  practice  of  Christian  virtues. 

That  this  must  be  particularly  the  case  in  new  missionary 
fields  becomes  evident  when  one  reflects  that  the  lack  of  good 
example  is  here  the  greater,  so,  too,  the  conduct  of  those  pious 
women  must  needs  prove  that  much  more  exemplary.  One  indi- 
vidual light  where  many  are  glowing  will  hardly  be  noticed, 
whereas,  if  it  be  shining  alone,  and  in  the  dark  of  the  night,  it 
will  attract  the  attention  of  all.  The  following  incident  is  to  the 
point : 

Early  one  morning,  here  in  Missoula,  whilst  going  to  say 
Mass  at  the  hospital,  the  writer  heard  loud  sobbing,  as  of  one 
in  distress.  Hastening  in  the  direction  of  the  sounds  we  found 
standing  in  the  vestibule  of  the  church  a  tall,  rugged  fellow, 
who  looked  the  very  picture  of  grief.  That  the  man  was  in 
the  lacrymose  stage  of  a  "bender"  was  the  first  thought  that 
crossed  our  mind.  But  on  inquiring  what  ailed  and  distressed 
him  so,  "Father,"  said  he,  "I  cannot  stand  it  any  longer.  I  have 
been  in  the  mountains  the  last  twenty-five  years,  and  have  not 
seen  a  priest  nor  a  church  the  whole  while.  I  have  just  come  to 
pass  the  winter  in  this  town,  and  as  I  was  going  by  yesterday 
morning  at  the  break  of  day,  I  saw  the  good  Sisters  from  yonder 
plodding  through  the  snow  to  come  and  pray  in  this  little  church. 
The  sight  stunned  me,  and  I  have  not  slept  a  wink  since.  Please, 
Father,  hear  my  confession ;  my  pile  is  large,  but  with  the  help 
of  God  and  the  example  of  these  saintly  souls,  I  want  to  mend 
my  ways  and  be  a  good  Christian." 

If  so  much  is  true  of  good  example  which,  after  all,  is,  so  to 
say,  but  the  shadow,  or,  if  you  please,  the  perfume  and  fragrance 


366        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

of  virtue,  what  is  to  be  said  of  the  substance  itself?  of  whole 
lives  unsparingly  and  heroically  spent  in  the  service  of  God,  and 
in  behalf  of  youth  or  suffering  humanity,  in  places,  particularly, 
where  piety  and  religion  are  hardly  known;  where  educators  are 
few,  and  where  ills  and  wants  abound,  but  scarce  are  the  rem- 
edies and  comforts? 

It  is  true,  however,  that  as  these  opportunities  of  doing  good 
are  due  in  great  measure  to  the  lack  of  spiritual  helps  which 
follows  the  dearth  of  priests,  they  who  will  labor  in  such  fields 
must  feel  at  times  the  spiritual  poverty  of  their  environment ;  that 
is,  they  will  have  to  forego,  now  and  then,  some  of  their  ordinary 
spiritual  comforts,  as  daily  Mass,  frequent  Communion,  and  the 
like.  Nor  can  it  be  doubted,  that  for  souls  whose  main  object  in 
life  is  to  glorify  God  by  sanctifying  themselves,  such  spiritual 
privations  prove  much  harder  to  bear  than  material  ones.  Piety 
is,  of  necessity,  somewhat  selfish. 

But  what  hence?  Is  God's  hand  shortened,  that  He  cannot 
provide  for  the  spiritual  wants  of  His  loyal  servants  in  some 
other  way,  best  known  to  Himself?  Or  can  it  be  imagined  that 
either  a  greater  service  appeals  to  Him  less?  or  that  He  can  be 
more  pleased  to  have  us  enjoy  His  company  than  see  us  quit  it 
for  His  sake,  and  to  do  His  bidding?  So,  also,  if  to  expect  His 
help  in  ordinary  circumstances  by  other  than  the  means  of  His 
appointing,  would  be,  on  our  part,  intolerable  presumption,  can 
it  be  less  culpable  not  to  hope  for  and  count  on  His  special  assist- 
ance in  special  emergencies? 

Hence  the  writer's  conviction  that  Mother  Caron's  determina- 
tion to  locate  Sisters  at  Missoula,  whether  timely  or  not  in  the 
eyes  of  human  prudence,  was  none  the  less  prompted  from  on 
high  and,  so  to  say,  providential.  For  it  is  God's  own  way  to 
work  out  frequently  His  designs,  not  only  by  setting  at  naught 
men's  prudence,  but  by  making  use  of  our  very  imprudence  to 
encompass  the  ends  of  His  infinite  wisdom. 

But  let  us  return  to  our  narrative. 

Having,  then,  resolved  to  carry  out  her  project,  Mother  Caron 
named  the  Sisters  whom  she  destined  to  found  the  house  at 
Missoula.  They  were  Sister  Mary  Victor,  her  traveling  com- 
panion— gone  since  to  her  rest — and  Sister  M.  Edward,  trans- 
ferred from  St.   Ignatius;  the  first  named  being  in  charge  of 


MISSION  OF  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER,  MISSOULA  367 

the  new  foundation.  The  Reverend  Mother  had  arranged  to 
leave  Montana  in  the  spring,  and,  as  Missoula  lay  in  her  course, 
had  also  set  that  time  for  the  Sisters  to  go  thither,  as  she  desired 
to  see  them  installed  in  their  new  home. 

Accordingly,  soon  after  Easter,  Mother  Caron  and  the  little 
band,  with  the  writer  and  Sister  M.  of  the  Infant  Jesus  in  their 
company,  set  out  for  Missoula.  In  the  narrowest  part  of 
O'Keeffe  Canyon  the  roadbed — a  stretch  of  some  fifty  yards — 
was  found  still  covered  over  with  an  unbroken  sheet  of  ice,  and 
there  being  no  way  of  getting  round  it,  the  travelers  were  con- 
fronted with  a  rather  ticklish  problem.  Owing  to  her  weight, 
advanced  years,  and  her  arm  still  partly  bandaged  and  in  a 
sling,  the  spot  was  extremely  perilous  for  the  Reverend  Mother, 
as  a  slip  might  prove  disastrous,  and  the  course  being  consider- 
ably on  the  incline,  there  was  danger  of  slipping  at  every  step. 
With  a  stout  staff  in  his  free  hand  as  a  support,  and  to  steady 
their  footing,  arm  in  arm,  the  writer  and  the  Mother  went  over 
the  ice  without  mishap,  helped  safely  across  by  their  Guardian 
Angels.  The  rest  of  the  party  got  over  the  troublesome  spot  as 
best  they  could,  but  happily  also  uninjured,  although  not  with- 
out some  ludicrous  occurrences. 

On  their  arrival  at  Missoula,  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same 
day,  April  18,  the  Sisters  took  possession  at  once  of  their  new 
home,  which  they  found  gorgeously  hung,  draped  and  festooned 
from  cellar  to  garret,  with  an  incredible  wealth  and  wondrous 
display  of  all  manner  and  variety  of  spider  work.  Apart  from 
two  small  boxes,  there  was  not  in  the  whole  house  a  single  stick 
of  furniture  of  any  kind,  and  Poverty's  own  home  could  never 
be  richer  in  wants  than  this  new  abode.  The  same  evening,  as 
best  they  could  under  conditions,  the  Sisters  cleaned  out  one  of 
the  rooms  in  the  west  end  of  the  building,  and  fitted  it  up  as  a 
chapel,  where  the  writer  said  Mass  the  next  morning.  The  little 
oratory  was  the  first  place  of  Divine  service  in  Missoula,  and 
served  as  such  for  several  months. 

The  first  to  call  on  the  Sisters  was  Mrs.  Thomas  MacNamara, 
who  came  to  greet  them  and  bade  them  welcome  with  a  basket 
of  eatables,  a  gift  timely  indeed,  and  twice  acceptable,  because 
needed. 

The  advent  of  a  Sisterhood  in  Missoula  would  doubtless  appear 


368        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

to  have  been  an  occurrence  of  some  importance  in  the  history  of 
the  town.  It  is  therefore  not  a  little  surprising  that  in  his 
Chronology  of  Missoula  from  18/0  to  1880,  one  S.  Barbour 
should  have  ignored  the  fact  completely.  Yet  it  is  so,  and  from 
that  document  the  historian  of  a  hundred  years  hence  may  prove 
to  his  own  satisfaction  that  no  such  thing  as  a  Sisters'  Com- 
munity existed  in  Missoula  within  that  period. 

Mother  Caron,  a  true  lover  of  poverty,  appeared  delighted  at 
the  utter  destitution  of  the  new  home,  and  would  have  preferred 
to  remain  and  share  it  with  her  daughters.  But  the  pressing 
duties  of  her  high  office  were  calling  her  elsewhere  to  look  after 
the  general  good  of  the  Order,  in  whose  furtherance  she  had 
been  considerably  handicapped  by  her  long  stay  in  the  moun- 
tains. Hence  the  next  day  she  took  her  departure  from  Missoula 
and  Montana,  and  on  bidding  farewell  to  her  daughters,  she 
bade  them  also  be  of  good  heart,  and  put  all  their  trust  in  God 
and  His  loving  Providence.  She  would  send  other  Sisters  to 
help  in  the  work  as  soon  as  they  should  be  needed,  and,  feeling 
as  she  did  very  hopeful  for  the  future  of  that  new  foundation 
she  would  do  the  best  she  could  to  advance  it. 

At  Corinne,  Utah — then  the  western  terminus  of  the  railway 
heading  toward  Montana — Mother  Caron  met  some  members 
of  the  Order  who  were  coming  west  from  Montreal.  One  of 
them  was  a  young  Sister,  brimful  of  life,  Mary  Julian,  the  pres- 
ent Mother  General,  whom  Mother  Caron  now  assigned  to  join 
the  Sisters  at  Missoula.  She  thus  became  a  member  of  the  new 
colony,  and  must  therefore  be  counted  as  one  of  its  founders. 

Two  other  Sisters,  Jane  de  Chantal  and  Odille  Gignac,  the 
latter  a  Tertiary  or  Coadjutrix,  were  also  in  the  band,  and  they 
were  assigned  to  St.  Ignatius.  Sister  Jane  lived  there  a  num- 
ber of  years,  and  thither  she  is  returned  after  being  sent  for  a 
time  to  do  duty  at  De  Smet,  Idaho,  whilst  Sister  Odille  has 
continued  at  her  post  since  her  first  arrival,  nearly  forty  years 
ago,  proving  herself  all  the  while  a  good  religious  and  a  hard 
worker.  Indeed,  it  would  be  difficult  to  tell  which  distinguishes 
this  good  Sister  more  in  her  humble  capacity,  her  wonderful 
simplicity  or  her  industry  and  usefulness  in  the  branches  of 
domestic  economy.  It  is  but  truth  to  say  that  she  has  filled 
alone  the  parts  of  several  for  years,  and  that  in  the  niceties  of 


MISSION  OF  ST.  FRANCIS  XA  VIER,  MISSO ULA  369 

excellent  dairying,  according  to  connoisseurs,  she  could  hardly 
be  surpassed. 

Here,  incidentally,  may  also  be  mentioned  another  Coadju- 
trix,  Sister  Magnan,  whose  practical  turn  and  industrious 
make-up  place  her  above  the  common  of  her  sex.  She  came  to 
our  mountains  in  the  eighties  when,  with  Mother  Mary,  the  first 
Provincial  of  the  Sisters  of  Providence  in  Montana,  she  went  to 
Fort  Benton.  In  1890,  she  was  transferred  to  the  Academy  of 
the  Sacred  Heart,  Missoula,  where  she  has  been  residing  ever 
since.  Sister  Magnan  is  an  expert  mechanic,  and  whilst  at  home 
in  house-painting  and  carpentry,  she  can  handle  almost  all  manner 
of  tools  with  the  ease  and  skill  of  a  professional.  The  altar,  a 
neat  piece  of  work,  as  well  as  the  pews,  in  the  Academy  chapel 
are  all  her  work.  So,  too,  the  Sisters'  Infirmary  in  the  same 
Academy :  plans,  details,  and  practically  all  the  rest,  are  her  work. 

A  settlement  still  new,  as  Missoula  was  at  this  early  date,  could 
not  but  lack  many  of  the  conveniences  of  older  and  larger  com- 
munities. Kerosene  lamps  and  tallow  candles  still  furnished  the 
light.  As  to  water,  however,  there  was  any  abundance  in  the 
river  running  along  the  south  side,  and  in  the  creek,  called  the 
Rattlesnake,  skirting  the  east  end  of  the  town.  But  for  domestic 
uses  it  had  to  be  fetched  in  the  old  primitive  fashion  with  pail 
or  bucket,  and  not  always  without  some  trouble.  The  Sisters  in 
this  regard  were  worse  off  than  anyone  else  of  the  town  people : 
they  lived  farthest  away  from  the  creek,  and  though  close  enough 
to  the  river,  it  was  no  easy  task  to  get  water  therefrom,  the  river 
banks  nearby  being  both  high  and  steep. 

This  drawback  was  partly  remedied  during  the  summer.  C.  P. 
Higgins,  besides  building  the  big  race  to  run  the  mills,  had  also 
brought  water  on  the  town  flat  for  irrigation  purposes.  Having 
been  asked  the  favor,  he  kindly  allowed  the  Sisters  the  use  of  his 
water-right.  But  the  water  had  to  be  taken  from  a  point  near 
and  opposite  the  present  brewery  site,  and  brought  down  to  the 
Sisters,  quite  a  good  distance  off.  At  this  date,  however,  the 
stretch  between  the  two  points  just  indicated,  and  mostly  all 
north  of  Spruce  Street,  was  as  yet  "no  man's  land,"  that  is,  no 
fence  or  structure  of  any  kind  stood  upon  it.  Hence,  owing  to 
the  lay  of  the  ground,  it  was  comparatively  an  easy  task  to  run 
a  surface  ditch  the  whole  length  of  the  way. 


370        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

So  it  was  done  with  the  help  of  a  pair  of  horses  and  a  plow. 
With  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  hospital,  and  stepping  straight  in  the 
visual  line,  the  writer  pointed  out  the  course  by  simply  walking 
ahead  of  the  team,  whilst  some  squaws  followed  the  man  at  the 
plow  and  cleaned  out  the  furrow  with  hoe  and  shovel.  Thus 
within  a  day  or  so,  the  Sisters  had  water  running  by  their 
premises.  It  was  a  great  convenience,  beyond  doubt,  but  short- 
lived, because  it  was  certain  to  be  cut  off  as  soon  as  freezing 
weather  set  in.  Hence  during  the  winter,  there  was  no  alterna- 
tive but  to  get  water  for  domestic  use,  as  best  could  be,  from 
one  or  the  other  of  the  two  streams,  or  by  melting  snow  when 
it  happened  to  be  at  hand.  It  was  several  years  before  Missoula 
had  a  city  water  supply,  and  longer  still  before  the  mains  were 
extended  as  far  as  the  hospital. 

That  the  good  Sisters  had  no  easy  time  at  their  starting  in 
Missoula  may  well  be  imagined.  Apart  from  what  has  already 
been  indicated,  everything  needed  for  housekeeping  had  to  be 
provided,  stove,  furniture,  beds,  bedding  and  all  the  rest.  Many 
articles,  such  as  sheets,  pillow-cases,  towels,  and  the  like,  were 
made  by  their  own  hands.  But  difficulties  notwithstanding,  they 
soon  had  two  private  rooms  and  a  small  ward  ready  and  com- 
fortably furnished  for  the  accommodations  of  patients,  whilst 
the  rest  of  the  premises  had  also  been  put  in  the  best  of  order, 
every  nook  and  corner  being  made  available  and  turned  to  some 
useful  purpose.  They  named  the  hospital  after  St.  Patrick, 
the  Apostle  of  Ireland,  and  in  connection  with  it,  they  also 
managed  to  conduct  a  small  school  for  children. 

But  what  little,  unpretentious  affairs  were  not  hospital  and 
school  at  their  commencement !  It  is,  however,  God's  way  to 
have  small  beginnings  make  great  endings,  and  this,  too,  not  by 
leaps  and  bound,  but  rather  gradually  and  almost  imperceptibly. 
The  present  is  a  clear  and  striking  instance  in  point.  Those  good 
Sisters  went  to  Missoula,  not  only  unheralded,  but  not  even 
noticed,  and  if  they  found  a  roof  over  their  heads,  they  had  noth- 
ing else  with  which  to  begin  their  noble  work,  save  their  bodily 
strength,  an  earnest  good  will,  and  great  confidence  in  God  and 
His  Providence.  The  results  are  to  be  seen  by  all  and  speak  for 
themselves. 

Large,  imposing  piles  in  brick  and  stone  replace  today  the 


MISSION  OF  ST.  FRANCIS  XA  VIER,  MISSO ULA  371 

little  frame  structure  of  1873;  and  the  embryo-hospital  and 
embryo-school  of  the  same  date  have  grown  and  expanded  into 
three  institutions  which,  as  to  buildings,  appointments,  accommo- 
dations, equipment  and  personnel,  no  less  than  as  to  efficiency 
and  success  in  their  respective  lines  of  work,  are  deservedly 
reckoned  today,  among  the  best  of  their  kind  in  Montana.  In 
St.  Patrick's  Hospital  from  eight  hundred  to  a  thousand 
patients  are  annually  treated  and  cared  for,  while  the  pupils  in 
the  two  schools,  the  Academy  of  the  Sacred  Heart  for  young 
ladies,  and  St.  Joseph's,  a  day  and  boarding  school  for  boys 
under  fourteen,  number  close  to  five  hundred,  some  three  hun- 
dred of  these  being  boarders  and  coming  from  different  points 
in  Montana,  and  a  few  also  from  adjoining  states. 

And  who  will  estimate,  even  approximately,  all  the  good, 
religious,  moral,  intellectual,  social  and  physical,  that  these  three 
institutions  have  brought  and  daily  bring  to  the  whole  surround- 
ing country,  and  Missoula  particularly?  No,  western  Montana 
people  especially,  and,  more  especially  still,  those  of  Missoula  and 
vicinity,  can  never  be  grateful  enough  for  all  they  owe  in  this 
regard  to  saintly  Mother  Caron  and  her  loyal  daughters,  the 
Sisters  of  Providence. 

Whilst  the  writer  was  having  his  hair  cut  one  day,  there 
entered  the  barber  shop  a  stranger,  who,  however,  appeared  to 
be  well  known  to  the  tonsorial  artist,  for  they  greeted  each 
other  with  noticeable  warmth.  "Yes,  Fred,"  said  the  stranger, 
"I  have  just  come  down  from  the  upper  country,  the  biggest 
mining  camp  on  God's  green  earth,  and  have  brought  my  two 
sons  to  St.  Joseph's  School,  conducted  by  the  Sisters.  I  have 
seen  several  boys  come  home  from  there  perfect  young  gentle- 
men, though  to  my  personal  knowledge  they  were  far  from  well 
behaved  when  they  entered.  That  is  the  school  for  my  boys, 
said  I  to  myself.  And  there  they  are,  and  shall  remain,  so  long 
as  their  age  will  not  bar  them." 

But  let  us  proceed  and  see  how,  with  the  coming  of  the  Sisters 
to  Missoula,  the  local  history  of  that  church  may  also  be  said 
to  begin. 

With  the  first  visits  of  the  Father  to  the  hospital,  some  of 
the  town  people  came  to  hear  Mass,  and  for  their  accommoda- 
tion an  adjoining  room  had  to  be  made  part  of  the  little  oratory 


372        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

described  above.  Sometime  after,  more  space  being  needed  for 
their  work,  the  Sisters  put  up  a  small  addition  to  the  original 
building.  More  room  became  likewise  necessary  for  the  increas- 
ing number  of  Catholics  who  attended  service,  and  so  the  whole 
east  side  of  the  premises,  from  the  hall  that  ran  through  their 
length,  was  converted  into  a  fair-sized  chapel  where  from  twenty 
to  thirty  grown-up  persons  could  be  comfortably  seated.  The 
altar  stood  at  the  north  end,  with  folding  doors  in  front  and 
near  it,  so  that  with  these  closed,  the  place  could  be  used  for 
school  purposes.  With  the  doors  closed  it  became  a  chapel, 
where  the  faithful  of  Missoula  worshiped  till  the  building  of  a 
church. 

Early  in  November  of  the  same  year,  1873,  the  writer  was 
assigned  to  Helena,  his  place  at  St.  Ignatius  being  taken  by 
Father  L.  Van  Gorp,  to  whom  fell  also  the  spiritual  care  of 
the  Sisters  at  Missoula.  He  visited  them  periodically  for  about 
three  years,  though  they  were  visited  occasionally  also  from 
St.  Mary's  and  St.  Michael's  or  Hell's  Gate. 

These  periodical  visits  were  indeed  a  great  boon  for  both 
Sisters  and  people,  but  whilst  sufficient  perhaps  for  the  latter, 
they  were  not  so  for  the  former.  To  be  two,  three  weeks, 
and  sometimes  a  whole  month  without  Mass  and  Holy  Com- 
munion, proved  to  the  Sisters  .the  hardest  cross  to  bear.  But 
this  very  difficulty  had  been  foreseen  and  pointed  out  by  Father 
Giorda,  when  discouraging,  as  premature,  their  going  to 
Missoula.  And  since  the  stationing  of  a  resident  priest  in  the 
place  did  not  exactly  belong  to  him,  but  to  the  higher  authorities 
in  Europe,  there  was  nothing  left  for  the  Sisters  but  to  put  up, 
as  best  they  could,  with  their  lot,  till  some  relief  should  be 
forthcoming  in  God's  own  time.  And  come  it  did,  and  from  a 
source  undreamed  of  by  any  one.  It  is  again  history  and 
worth  recording. 

Although  Hell's  Gate  had  dwindled  into  nothing,  services 
still  continued  to  be  held  there,  just  as  before,  and  this  because 
there  stood  the  church  and  the  priest's  house.  It  now  came  to 
pass,  that  with  the  surveying  of  that  section  by  the  Government, 
church,  priest's  residence  and  a  neighbor's  house,  one  and  all, 
were  found  to  be  in  the  same  forty.  Though  the  Fathers  had 
the  first  right  of  entry,   owing  to  priority  of  occupancy  and 


MISSION  OF  ST.  FRANCIS  XA  VIER,  MISSO  ULA  373 

improvements,  theirs  antedating  the  neighbor's  by  several  years, 
Father  Menetrey  waived  his  right,  and  consented  to  the  forty 
in  question  being  entered  as  part  of  the  man's  claim,  but,  by 
mutual  agreement,  the  man  was  to  relinquish  and  deed  over  to 
the  Fathers  that  fraction  of  the  forty  on  which  stood  the  church 
and  residence.  No  sooner,  however,  had  that  good  neighbor 
secured  the  patent  to  the  ground  than  he  ordered  Father 
Menetrey  off  the  premises  bag  and  baggage,  and  no  pleading, 
no  entreaty  availed  to  bring  the  sharper  to  a  sense  of  equity  and 
fairness. 

As  a  consequence,  Father  Menetrey  was  now  directed  to  move 
to  Missoula,  and  make  St.  Patrick's  Hospital  his  quarters, 
for  the  time  being,  while  Father  Folchi  received  instructions  to 
repair  also  thither,  and  thence  attend  Frenchtown.  Thus,  by 
God's  disposition,  the  meanness  of  a  man  was  instrumental  in 
giving  to  Missoula  resident  priests,  just  as  an  accident  and  the 
broken  arm  of  Mother  Caron  had  given  it  Sisters. 

Father  L.  Van  Gorp  had  both  buildings,  church  and  rectory 
taken  down  and  all  the  material  hauled  to  Missoula.  The 
timbers  that  had  formed  the  priest's  house  were  now  sawed 
up  for  firewood,  but  those  that  went  into  the  construction  of 
the  church  were  put  again  together,  reduced  somewhat  in  length, 
and  the  building  so  constructed,  and  set  up  near  the  hospital, 
made  a  suitable  class-room  for  boys.  Sometime  later  it  was 
moved  to  the  Academy  side,  across  the  way,  and  has  since  been 
converted  into  an  infirmary,  for  emergency  cases  among  the 
school  children. 

Damaged  by  fire  a  short  while  ago,  there  it  stands,  dwarfed 
into  a  toyhouse  by  the  palatial  structures  near  and  round  it, 
but  a  silent  witness  of  the  progress  that  has  been  made. 

The  first  baptism  on  record  in  the  books  of  the  Missoula 
church  is  that  of  Lucinda  Pattee,  daughter  of  David  Pattee, 
whom  Father  Van  Gorp  baptized  in  the  wee  chapel  of  the 
Sisters,  March  17,  1874.  As  we  stated  a  little  before,  Fathers 
Menetrey  and  Folchi  were  the  first  priests  to  reside  in  Missoula. 
The  latter,  however,  remained  there  hardly  a  year,  and  during 
the  while  had  the  spiritual  care  of  the  Frenchtown  Catholics  for 
his   special   missionary   duty,    whereas    Father    Menetrey,    now 


374        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

alone,  now  assisted  by  one  or  another  of  his  confreres,  was  the 
Pastor  of  Missoula  for  several  years. 

In  the  beginnings  of  his  pastorate  Father  Menetrey  fenced  in 
a  cemetery  site,  a  two-acre  plot  or  thereabout,  at  the  foot  of 
the  hill,  just  north  of  the  town,  but  with  no  other  title  to  the 
ground  than  occupancy  and  improvements.  It  is  still  serving 
its  object  as  the  resting  place  for  the  departed.  Part  of  it, 
however,  has  been  found  ill-suited  for  graves,  because  quite 
rocky,  save  a  thin  cover  of  earth  on  the  surface.  Owing  to 
this,  and  also  to  the  fact  that  with  the  increase  of  the  congre- 
gation the  cemetery  would  soon  be  inadequate,  steps  were 
taken  by  the  writer,  sometime  later  on,  to  have  it  enlarged  by 
the  addition  of  some  seven  acres  to  the  original  site.  And 
furthermore,  title  to  the  whole  plot  was  acquired  and  made 
secure  by  patent. 

In  1877,  the  establishment  of  a  military  fort,  some  four 
miles  to  the  southwest,  while  adding  to  the  material  prosperity 
of  the  town,  increased,  somewhat,  also  the  congregation,  several 
of  the  soldiers  being  Catholics.  Some  four  years  later  the 
approach  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway  from  both  east  and 
west  began  to  bring  into  Missoula  quite  a  number  of  new- 
comers, and  now  steps  were  taken  by  Father  Menetrey  to 
build  a  church.  For  up  to  December,  1881,  our  Missoula 
Catholics  had  worshipped  down  at  the  Sisters',  in  the  hospital 
chapel,  as  we  related  above. 

The  new  church  was  opened  and  dedicated  under  the  title  of 
St.  Francis  Xavier,  December  11,  188 1.  It  was  a  frame  struc- 
ture, costing  close  on  three  thousand  dollars.  On  its  com- 
pletion, Father  Menetrey,  who  since  his  first  coming  to  reside 
in  Missoula  had  been  quartered  at  the  hospital,  moved  up  to 
the  church  and  roomed  in  the  sacristy  for  some  two  years,  that 
is,  until  he  built  a  small  residence  that  cost  about  $2,000. 

Sometime  after  the  erection  of  the  new  St.  Patrick's  Hos- 
pital, the  old  landmark  that  at  one  and  the  same  time  had 
served  for  church,  hospital,  school,  and  Sisters'  dwelling,  was 
turned  over  to  the  McCormicks,  its  original  owners,  who  have 
moved  it  to  the  corner  of  Owen  and  Warren  Streets.  And 
there  it  stands,  as  it  was  years  ago,  but  minus  the  little  porch 
over  the  front  door.     Strange  to  say,  the  little  porch  appears, 


MISSION  OF  ST.  FRANCIS  XA  VIER,  MISSO ULA  375 

somehow,  even  more  conspicuous  in  the  writer's  mind  by  having 
ceased  to  be,  than  it  did  when  extant ! 

In  the  summer  of  1879,  Western  Montana  had  its  first 
episcopal  visitation.  The  Metropolitan  of  Oregon — at  this  time 
Administrator  also  of  the  Vicariate  of  Idaho,  which  took  in 
Western  Montana — deputed  his  Coadjutor,  the  Most  Rev. 
Charles  J.  Seghers,  to  visit  that  whole  jurisdiction.  Accom- 
panied by  Father  J.  M.  Cataldo,  S.  J.,  the  Superior  of  these 
Missions,  the  distinguished  Prelate  came  over  the  Cceur  d'Alenes 
Mountains  by  the  Mullan  Road,  and  tarried  several  days  in 
Missoula  County,  visiting  Frenchtown,  Missoula,  and  the  two 
Indian  Missions  of  St.  Ignatius  and  St.  Mary.  He  admin- 
istered Confirmation  in  each  of  these  places,  except  Missoula. 
The  small  percentage  of  Catholics  in  the  community — hardly 
one  to  seven  at  this  time — and  also  the  fact  that  Father  Giorda, 
who  was  empowered  by  Apostolic  indult  to  administer  that 
Sacrament  within  his  jurisdiction,  had  confirmed  eight  persons 
there  on  July  4,  1875,  account  for  Archbishop  Seghers'  finding 
no  one  to  confirm  on  his  first  visit. 

He  returned  in  1882,  and  on  June  23  confirmed  seven  Mis- 
soula people  in  the  little  frame  church. 

On  this  second  visit  to  Western  Montana,  the  Archbishop 
and  the  Superior  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  Missions,  Father  J. 
M.  Cataldo,  S.  J.,  entered  into  a  mutual  agreement,  pursuant 
to  which,  as  soon  as  could  be,  the  Jesuit  Fathers  were  to  be 
relieved  of  the  spiritual  care  of  both  Missoula  and  Frenchtown. 
This  agreement,  however,  was  subsequently  modified  with  respect 
to  Missoula,  the  Fathers  were  to  continue  in  the  spiritual  charge 
of  this  community,  as  will  be  seen  more  opportunely  when  we 
shall  speak  of  the  erection  of  the  Helena  Diocese. 

Some  two  years  after  the  second  visitation  of  Archbishop 
Seghers,  the  little  Missoula  church  witnessed  a  rather  unusual 
and  striking  occurrence. 

When  speaking  of  the  Deer  Lodge  Mission  we  referred  to 
John  Maguire  importing  Robert  Ingersoll  to  deliver  lectures 
through  Montana.  Bishop  Brondel  felt  very  indignant  over  the 
matter,  and  happening  to  be  at  the  time  in  Missoula  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  pastoral  duties,  in  an  outburst  of  zeal  one  Sunday 
morning  he  denounced  John  Maguire,  and  excommunicated  him 


376        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

by  name  from  the  altar  and  before  a  crowded  congregation. 
This  created  quite  a  sensation,  not  only  in  Missoula,  but  through- 
out the  whole  of  Montana,  and  perhaps  elsewhere  in  the  West. 
The  more  so,  that  the  subject  against  whom  the  censure  had 
been  fulminated  was  rather  popular  with  the  miners  and  western 
people  in  general.  John  Maguire's  faith  had  become  dormant, 
somewhat,  at  the  time.  But  later  on  he  seemed  to  repent  of 
his  course,  and  there  appears  to  be  no  doubt  that  he  was  shriven 
before  his  death. 

In  June,  1888,  Father  Menetrey,  whose  health  had  begun  to 
break  down  under  the  weight  of  years  and  cares,  was  relieved 
from  active  missionary  duty,  and  his  charge  now  fell  to  Father 
Alexander  Diomedi,  S.  J.,  whose  shoulders  were  well  fitted  for 
the  burden.  For  he  is  a  man  of  grit  and  uncommon  energy, 
or,  to  use  a  Western  expression,  a  genuine  "rustler,"  as  can 
be  seen  by  his  work.  He  has  put  under  roof  a  spacious  and  fine 
church  edifice,  in  brick  and  stone,  measuring  54  by  122  feet, 
outside  dimensions,  the  largest  and  costliest  church  today  for 
the  whites  in  Montana.  We  say  for  "the  whites";  as  the 
church  being  erected  at  the  Indian  Mission  of  St.  Ignatius, 
likewise  of  brick  and  stone,  is  on  a  somewhat  larger  scale, 
although  by  no  means  more  than  a  few  feet. 

Doubtless  the  new  Missoula  church  will  be  a  lasting  monu- 
ment of  Father  Diomedi's  zeal  and  enterprise,  no  less  than  of 
the  earnestness  and  generosity  of  the  people  of  the  town  and 
vicinity,  who  have  generously  cooperated  in  its  erection.  The 
cornerstone  was  blessed  and  laid  August  19,  1891,  by  the 
Ordinary,  who  likewise,  and  but  a  little  over  one  year  later, 
or  October  9,  1892,  opened  the  new  St.  Francis  Xavier  for 
Divine  service. 

But  though  used  continuously  from  this  date,  the  interior 
remained  unfinished,  being  simply  roughcast,  until  it  was  fres- 
coed and  given  the  elaborate  and  artistic  appearance  which  it 
presents  today.  Its  paintings  and  mural  decorations,  a  work 
of  considerable  magnitude  and  much  admired,  are  all  from 
the  brush  of  J.  Carignano,  a  Coadjutor  Brother  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus,  who  devoted  to  the  task  some  sixteen  months  of 
unremittent  study  and  arduous  labor.  The  fourteen  Stations 
of  the  Cross,  in  oil,  are  also  from  his  brush,  and  were  executed 


St.  Francis'  Church,  Missoula 
Brother  Garignano,  its  Decorator 


MISSION  OF  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER,  MISSOULA 


377 


by  him  under  very  peculiar  and  decidely  uninspiring  circum- 
stances for  an  artist.  He  painted  them  when  chef  at  Gonzaga 
College,  Wash.,  and  whilst  he  was  cooking  for  a  community 
of  over  one  hundred  persons.  Having  screened  off  a  little 
corner  from  the  rest  of  the  kitchen  and  turned  it  into  a  studio, 
he  there  spent  some  four  years  over  these  canvases,  devoting 
to  them  every  minute  of  time  that  he  could  possibly  steal  from 
his  pans  and  pots. 

Yet,  despite  these  unfavorable  conditions,  the  oils  are  not 
without  artistic  merit,  and,  though  not  entirely  original  with 
him  in  conception,  they  still  manifest  the  ability  of  a  true  artist 
in  their  execution.  And  this  the  more  so,  when  it  is  known  that 
the  Brother's  work  is  the  result  of  native  talent,  as  he  never  had 
the  opportunity  and  advantages  of  any  professional  training. 

Here,  incidentally,  may  also  be  mentioned  that  whilst  handling 
the  brush  with  more  than  ordinary  skill,  the  Brother  was  like- 
wise a  noticeably  quick  worker  and  prolific  in  his  art  productions. 
For  besides  the  work  just  spoken  of,  he  has  decorated  with 
frescomgs  the  large  church  at  the  Indian  Mission  of  St.  Ignatius, 
and  several  other  churches  and  chapels  in  Idaho,  Washington 
and  Oregon;  whilst  single  pieces  by  him  or  groups  in  oil  are  to 
be  seen  here  and  there,  not  only  over  altars,  but  in  institutions, 
classrooms  and  even  in  private  houses. 

And  now  returning  to  St.  Francis  Xavier,  if  not  quite  an 
artistic  jewel,  as  time  and  again  intelligent  visitors  have  been 
pleased  to  call  it,  it  is,  all  in  all,  a  devout  and  finished  church,  of 
which  Missoula  people  have  reason  to  be  proud. 

It  is,  therefore,  to  be  hoped  that  its  tasty  and  devotional 
character  will  not  be  detracted  from  by  innovations  and  incon- 
gruities, such  as  misdirected  devotion  is  not  seldom  wont  to 
bring  into  our  churches,  at  the  expense  not  of  good  taste  only 
but  also  of  piety  itself.  For  after  all,  good  taste  is  but  conformity 
with  order  and  the  fitness  of  things,  the  lack  of  which,  if  any- 
where repugnant,  is  never  more  so  than  in  the  realm  of  religion 
and  piety.  Since,  directly  occupied  as  these  virtues  are  with  the 
honor  and  service  of  God,  where  can  order  and  the  fitness  of 
things  be  better  demanded  than  in  whatever  belongs  to  them? 
It  follows  that  whatever  does  not  harmonize  with  order,  good 
taste  or  the  fitness  of  things,  is  necessarily  also  at  variance  with 


378        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

true  religion  and  piety,  and  can  be  nowhere  more  out  of  place 
than  in  God's  own  house.  Still  people  seemingly  pious  and 
devout  want  now  this,  now  that  devotional  object  in  a  church, 
where  no  suitable  place  for  it  is  to  be  found.  The  result  is  that 
at  times  real  oddities  are  on  exhibition  in  some  of  our  churches. 

As  too  much  light  would  have  soon  damaged  and  ruined  the 
fresco  work,  especially  where  exposed  to  the  direct  rays  of  the 
sun,  another  improvement  became  now  necessary;  the  original 
plain  windows  had  to  be  replaced  by  others  of  stained  glass.  And 
these  were  readily  and  cheerfully  provided  by  the  congregation 
at  an  outlay  of  some  $1,600.  Harmonizing  with  all  the  rest,  the 
stained  glass  adds  much  to  the  completeness  of  the  interior,  and 
sets  it  off  to  the  best  advantage.     Each  window  is  a  memorial. 

A  pipe  organ  of  moderate  size,  but  first  class  and  up  to  date  in 
every  particular,  is  a  more  recent  addition  to  the  equipment  of 
St.  Francis  Xavier's.  It  is  the  make  of  Hook  and  Hastings, 
Boston,  Mass.,  whose  instruments  are  reckoned  among  the  best 
in  the  country,  and  is  actually  a  duplicate  of  the  organ  which  at 
the  Chicago  World's  Fair  was  awarded  the  First  Prize  for 
excellence.  It  has  cost,  set  up  and  ready  for  use,  nearly  $6,000. 
Its  action  is  pneumatic  throughout,  while  the  bellows  are  operated 
by  a  modern  electric  motor.  The  organ  was  purchased  as  a 
memorial  of  the  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  Definition  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception. 

We  may  well  recall  here  and  do  recall  with  unalloyed  pleasure 
the  anniversary  just  referred  to  and  its  fitting  celebration  by  our 
Catholic  people  of  Missoula.  Entering  into  the  spirit  of  the 
occasion,  they  approached  the  Holy  Table  in  goodly  numbers,  and 
with  true  and  simple  piety  paid  honor  to  God's  Holy  Mother. 
In  the  evening,  the  statue  of  Our  Lady,  escorted  by  fifty  little 
girls  in  spotless  white  and  carrying  white  lilies  in  their  hands, 
was  borne  in  procession  within  the  church,  and  Benediction  of 
the  Blessed  Sacrament  closed  the  function. 

A  feature  of  the  celebration  was  the  lighting  up  of  the  church 
tower  by  electricity  the  evening  of  the  vigil  and  the  feast.  The 
illumination  was,  indeed,  remarkably  conspicuous,  it  being  seen 
from  a  considerable  distance  over  the  whole  valley.  Even  non- 
Catholics  were  thus  led  into  paying  some  honor  to  Our  Lady, 


MISSION  OF  ST.  FRANCIS  XA  VIER,  MISSOULA  379 

if  no  more  than  by  wondering  at  and  admiring  what  Catholics 
were  doing  in  her  homage. 

Still  another  improvement  in  the  line  of  church  furnishings, 
and  the  last  to  be  mentioned,  is  a  large  new  bell  weighing  a  ton 
and  something  over,  exclusive  of  mountings.  It  was  cast  by 
the  St.  Louis  Bell  Foundry,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  and  carries  the 
following  inscription : 

LAURENTL,  BENEDICTS,   FRANCISCE,  IGNATI 

O   COELITES,    MISSOULAE   FAVETE 

LAUDO,    MONEO,    PLORO 

D.    O.    M. 

VIVIS,  DEFUNCTIS 

QUAM  AUREUM  PASTORIS  IN  S.  J.  JUBILAEUM  MIHI  ATTULIT 

LIBENS  VITAM  IMPENDO. 

The  inscription  was  suggested  by  the  adjuncts  of  place,  time, 
persons,  to  all  of  which  it  makes  due  reference.  It  is,  therefore, 
historical,  and  we  add  here  its  meaning  for  the  benefit  of  any- 
one who  may  have  forgotten  his  Latin.  In  the  first  and  second 
lines,  St.  Laurence  and  St.  Benedict,  whose  names  were  given 
the  writer  in  Baptism,  then  St.  Francis  Xavier,  the  Patron  of  the 
church,  and,  lastly,  St.  Ignatius,  the  Founder  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  are  invoked  in  behalf  of  Missoula.  In  the  third  line,  the 
bell  is  made  to  express  its  chief  functions,  celebrating  feastdays, 
warning  the  living,  and  mourning  the  dead.  It  further  declares 
in  the  remaining  lines  that  to  the  honor  of  God,  the  Best,  the 
Greatest,  as  well  as  to  the  good  of  both  the  living  and  the 
departed,  it  gladly  devotes  the  life  or  being  which  it  received  on 
the  occasion  of  the  Pastor's  Golden  Jubilee,  as  a  member  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus. 

The  last  words  bring  out  the  fact  that  the  purse,  which  friends 
tendered  the  Pastor  on  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  his  religious 
life,  was  employed  in  securing  such  an  object  which,  whilst  doing 
honor  to  God,  should  benefit  also  the  community  at  large,  but 
especially  the  members  of  the  congregation,  living  and  dead. 
The  bell  cost  a  little  over  $1,000,  all  incidental  expenses  included, 
and  was  blessed  by  the  new  Ordinary  of  the  Helena  Diocese,  the 
Rt.  Rev.  J.  P.  Carroll,  February  18,  1906. 

Here  let  us  note  that  with  the  installation  of  the  new  bell  the 
old  and  smaller  one  did  not  end  in  the  discard  pile,  nor  go  out 


380        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

of  commission  simply  by  being  silenced.  It  was  transferred  to 
the  Academy  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  across  the  way,  and  has  lost 
none  of  its  sweet  tone,  except  perhaps  to  the  ear  of  some  tardy 
and  slothful  youngster.  There  it  has  been  swinging  and  sound- 
ing all  along  as  ever  before,  but  now  it  summons  the  children 
to  school,  whereas  it  formerly  called  both  the  young  and  their 
elders  to  church. 

Continuing  our  narrative,  there  comes  before  us  something 
quite  different  from  any  of  the  happenings  chronicled  in  the  last 
few  paragraphs,  a  sad  occurrence  indeed,  that  deeply  grieved 
the  whole  congregation,  to  the  shedding  of  tears  on  the  part  of 
several  of  its  members.  It  was  about  this  time  that  burglars 
entered  St.  Francis  Xavier's  in  the  stillness  of  the  night  and 
carried  off  what  they  thought  of  value.  Forcing  open  one  of 
the  small  windows  in  the  basement,  they  ascended  to  the  upper 
part  of  the  building  by  the  back  stairway,  which  leads  to  the 
rear  of  the  altar  and  to  the  sacristy.  They  took  the  chalice  that 
served  on  ordinary  days,  and  a  ciborium  that  stood  beside  it  on 
the  vestment  table,  and  with  these,  they  took  also  the  small 
britania  box,  containing  large  altar  breads.  The  ciborium  was 
filled  with  particles,  ready  for  consecration  in  the  morning,  it 
being  the  first  Friday  of  the  month,  when  a  larger  number  of 
devout  people  are  wont  to  receive  Holy  Communion. 

But  the  most  horrible  part  of  the  robbers'  work  was  to  break 
open  the  tabernacle — which  they  did  from  the  rear — and  to  take 
and  carry  off  ciborium  and  lunette  with  their  sacred  contents. 

Good  Brother  Lynch,  as  he  went  to  unlock  the  church  shortly 
after  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  beheld  with  horror  what  had 
been  done  in  the  night.  Some  large  hosts  were  picked  up  from 
the  floor,  others  on  the  steps  of  the  back  stairway  and  near  the 
window  through  which  the  burglars  had  come  in  and  made  their 
exit.  A  pile  of  particles  was  found  on  the  vestment  table  and  as 
these  were  more  than  either  ciborium  could  contain,  it  was 
naturally  inferred  that  the  thieves  had  thrown  there  together  on 
one  pile  the  contents  of  both  ciboriums.  In  this  predicament 
there  was  no  alternative  but  to  consecrate  the  particles  under 
condition,  as  the  writer  did  at  the  next  Mass. 

On  the  sacrilegious  outrage  being  announced  to  the  congrega- 
tion in  the  morning  and  again  the  following  Sunday,  not  a  few 


MISSION  OF  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER,  MISSOULA  381 

wept,  and  one  of  the  members  coming  forward  of  his  own  initia- 
tive, claimed  the  privilege  of  replacing,  as  he  did,  at  his  own 
expense  the  sacred  vessels  that  had  been  stolen.  As  an  act  of 
public  reparation,  the  Blessed  Sacrament  was  kept  exposed  a 
whole  day  during  the  week  and  this  brought  out  a  noticeable  and 
edifying  manifestation  of  faith  from  our  people  and  emphasizing 
likewise  their  sorrow  at  the  sad,  deplorable  occurrence. 

The  civil  authorities  found  no  clue  to  the  perpetrators  of  the 
outrage.  But  there  seemed  to  be  no  doubt  that  they  were 
strangers  and  old  hands  at  entering  and  desecrating  churches 
for  plunder.  For,  as  reported  by  the  public  press  at  the  time, 
several  places  of  worship,  all  the  way  from  the  Pacific  Coast  to 
Montana,  were  entered  and  burglarized  in  similar  fashion.  Only 
a  few  days  after  the  deed  just  recorded  the  same  individuals  or 
pals  of  theirs,  gained  an  entrance  into  the  Sisters'  Academy 
across  the  street,  bent,  as  it  was  generally  believed,  on  plundering 
the  chapel.  Some  of  the  Sisters  became  aware  of  the  burglars 
being  in  the  house,  but  were  too  frightened  to  stir.  Unmistak- 
able signs  of  the  robbers'  presence  were  found  here  and  there  in 
the  hall  and  in  some  of  the  classrooms  the  next  morning.  But, 
somehow,  they  failed  to  locate  the  chapel  and  decamped  the  way 
they  had  entered,  by  one  of  the  small  windows  in  the  basement. 

What  the  burglars  took  from  the  church  was  never  recovered, 
except  the  silk  covering  of  one  of  the  ciboriums.  It  was  picked 
up  some  weeks  after  the  burglary  by  some  one  who  found  it  a 
short  distance  from  the  east  end  of  the  railroad  bridge  spanning 
the  Rattlesnake. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  San  Francisco  was  visited  by  the 
destructive  earthquake  and  consequent  conflagration,  which 
threatened  its  very  existence.  Even  young  people  in  far-off 
Montana  had  been  much  impressed  by  the  appalling  calamity 
and  were  often  heard  discussing  it  among  themselves.  It  is 
what  here  in  Missoula,  over  at  St.  Joseph's  School,  two  little 
youngsters,  between  eight  and  nine,  were  doing  one  day,  shortly 
after  St.  Francis  Xavier's  had  been  desecrated  by  burglars.  One 
of  the  Sisters  happened  to  overhear  the  lads  and  became  quite 
interested  in  their  discussion.  "Yes,  I  do  tell  you,"  said  one, 
"that  what  was  done  here  in  Missoula  the  other  day  was  a  much 
greater  evil,  a  greater  misfortune  than  the  big  earthquake  and 


382        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

fire  of  San  Francisco."  "That  cannot  be,"  replied  the  other. 
"It  is,"  insisted  the  first,  "in  San  Francisco  the  hand  of  God  was 
on  men;  here  in  Missoula  the  hand  of  men  was  on  God." 

The  little  fellow  had  heard  from  the  altar  that  the  smallest 
venial  sin  is  a  much  greater  evil  than  any  material  misfortune 
whatsoever,  were  it  even  the  destruction  of  the  whole  world. 
Evidently,  this  truth  of  faith,  utterly  ignored  by  the  vast  majority 
of  our  fellow-beings,  had  entered  and  struck  root  in  the  boy's 
mind. 

But  right  here  a  word  of  explanation  is  in  order,  nay, 
demanded  by  the  last  few  items,  which,  as  the  reader  could  not 
fail  to  notice,  bring  down  closer  to  date  by  some  fifteen  years 
the  local  history  of  the  Missoula  Church.  Why  this?  And  why 
such  partial  extension  only,  instead  of  bringing  right  up  to  date 
all  the  rest  of  the  original  work?  The  reason  is  to  be  found  in 
the  fact  that  with  the  appearance  of  Indian  and  White  in  the 
Northwest,  in  1894,  the  writer  was  assigned  to  duty  in  the  state 
of  Washington,  where  he  spent  several  years,  after  which  he  was 
sent  back  to  his  former  camping  grounds  in  Montana.  Put  once 
more,  at  least  partially  and  for  a  time,  in  touch  with  Montana 
happenings,  he  could  incorporate  them  in  their  proper  place, 
extending  thus,  as  he  did,  the  local  narrative  of  the  Missoula 
Mission.  But  to  bring  the  whole  book,  or  any  other  part  even 
down  to  our  own  day  was  a  task  beyond  the  writer's  power, 
shorn  as  he  was  of  every  facility  to  accomplish  it.  And  this  is 
what  he  has  alluded  to  in  the  Preface  to  this  Second  Edition. 

After  this  necessary  explanation  we  may  now  proceed,  or 
rather  retrace  our  steps,  since,  first  of  all,  we  must  return  to  the 
earlier  or  "ancient"  history  of  the  Missoula  Church  and  close  its 
narrative  with  a  brief  reference  to  its  former  dependencies. 

With  the  closing  of  St.  Mary's  Mission,  whence  not  only  the 
Flat  Head  Indians,  but  also  the  whites  throughout  the  whole 
Bitter  Root  Valley  were  attended,  the  spiritual  care  of  the  latter 
passed  to  the  Jesuit  Fathers  residing  in  Missoula,  who  now 
began  to  visit  at  stated  times  the  principal  centres,  Florence, 
Stevensville,  Hamilton,  and  other  smaller  settlements,  Lolo, 
Victor  and  Corvallis. 

At  Florence  a  frame  structure  that  had  been  erected  for  a 
hall  was  purchased  by  Father  Diomedi   and  converted  into  a 


MISSION  OF  ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER,  MISSOULA  383 

place  of  Catholic  worship.  Bishop  Brondel  blessed  it,  naming  it 
after  St.  Augustine. 

Old  St.  Mary's  is  where  the  faithful  of  Stevensville  and 
vicinity  convene  for  Divine  worship.  Fifty  years  ago  none  but 
Indians  met  there  to  honor  and  praise  God,  their  Creator  and 
Saviour.  Thirty  years  later,  a  sprinkling  of  pale  faces,  a  few 
straggling  whites,  appeared  among  the  children  of  the  forest. 
Today  the  aborigene  is  no  longer  seen  thereabout  and  his  church, 
together  with  his  lands,  are  occupied  by  the  white  man.  Since 
our  first  writing  Stevensville  has  grown  into  a  thriving  commu- 
nity which,  as  years  roll  by,  bids  fair  to  keep  growing. 

Hamilton,  farther  up  in  the  valley,  is  an  entirely  new  commu- 
nity, whose  beginning  at  the  time  of  our  first  writing  was  quite 
recent,  but  ere  long  it  may  surpass  many  another  place  in  this 
part  of  Montana.  Father  Diomedi,  whose  bodily  eyes  are  weak 
and  rather  poor,  but  who  is  keen  and  far-sighted  otherwise,  has 
secured  in  the  new  and  promising  settlement  a  desirable  site 
where  a  church  will  shortly  be  erected.  And  all  this  has  come  to 
pass  since  our  first  writing.  For,  as  we  revise  our  first  edition, 
Hamilton  numbers  some  three  thousand  souls,  and  is  become  the 
chief  and  leading  place  of  the  whole  Bitter  Root  Valley.  The 
name  of  Marcus  Daly  has  been  associated  with  that  community 
from  its  first  beginnings,  and  that  remarkable  man's  activities 
and  enterprise  may  be  said  to  have  largely  contributed  to  its 
growth  and  development. 

The  Hamilton  Church  has  been  named  after  St.  Francis,  the 
Poverello  of  Assisi.  It  is  a  good-sized  frame  structure,  though 
peculiar,  somewhat,  in  architecture.  Hamilton  has  had  a  resident 
priest  for  some  years,  and,  as  a  consequence,  the  various  places 
which  formerly  were  attended  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers  from 
Missoula,  are  become  part  of  his  pastoral  charge. 

Another  dependency  was  Bonner,  which  lies  some  eight  miles 
east  of  Missoula,  and  where  some  forty  Catholic  families,  mostly 
French  Canadians,  are  living,  the  men  being  generally  employed 
in  the  saw  and  planing  mills  and  sash  factory  established  in  that 
locality.  It  is  only  a  few  years  hence  that  Father  Loiseau,  S.J., 
who  had  charge  of  and  took  great  interest  in  that  industrial 
settlement,  erected  there  a  neat  frame  church  on  ground  kindly 


384        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

donated  for  the  purpose  by  the  Anaconda  Copper  Mining  Com- 
pany. It  has  been  named  after  St.  Ann,  and  Catholic  members 
of  the  community  vied  with  each  other  to  have  it  complete  and 
furnished  as  best  they  could.  Possibly  because  of  the  language, 
Bonner  has  become  an  annex  of  Frenchtown,  whence  it  is 
regularly  attended. 

Horse  Plains,  which  is  now  simply  Plains,  and  Thompson 
Falls,  both  to  the  northwest,  were  also  for  sometime  dependencies 
of  the  Missoula  Mission.  But  they  have  ceased  being  such  now 
a  good  long  while,  so  long  in  fact  that  it  is  like  ancient  history  to 
refer  to  them  in  this  connection. 

And  no  less  like  ancient  history  will  appear  at  this  date  the 
following  figures,  which  give  the  number  of  Baptisms  and 
Marriages  held  in  the  Missoula  Mission  the  last  three  years 
preceding  the  first  appearance  of  Indian  and  White  in  the  North- 
west. They  were  taken  at  the  time  from  the  records  of  St. 
Xavier's  and  are  as  follows : 

Baptisms         Marriages 

1889    55  9 

1890  , 81  15 

1891    82  23 

There  now  remains  to  resume  and  bring  to  completion  the 

local  history  of  the  Frenchtown  Church,  which  we  shall  do  in 
the  next  chapter. 


!H 


4HT 


111 


Church  and  Rectory  of  St.  John  Baptist,  Frenchtown 


Church  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  Deer  Lodge 


Chapter  XIII. 

FRENCHTOWN    MISSION.       FIRST    MISSION    PREACHED  TO   THE 

WHITES  IN  MONTANA. 

FRENCHTOWN,  a  Catholic  settlement  from  its  beginnings, 
has  grown  into  a  distinctively  Catholic  community,  composed 
mostly,  as  its  name  indicates,  of  French-speaking  people,  that  is, 
French  Canadians. 

A  church  or  chapel,  as  we  stated  before,  was  erected  in  this 
farming  settlement  by  Father  Grassi  in  1864.  It  remained  a 
dependency  of  the  Indian  Mission  of  St.  Ignatius,  whence  it  had 
sprung,  for  a  number  of  years  and  from  its  erection  till  the 
summer  of  1884  was  attended  by  Jesuit  Fathers  who  visited  the 
settlement,  first  from  St.  Ignatius,  then  from  Hell's  Gate,  later 
from  St.  Mary's ;  lastly  from  Missoula. 

The  Fathers  who  from  one  or  the  other  of  these  different 
places  made  occasionally  missionary  excursions  to  Frenchtown 
were  the  following:  U.  Grassi,  J.  Menetrey,  A.  Ravalli,  James 
Vanzina,  J.  M.  Cataldo,  L.  Van  Gorp,  A.  Parodi,  Jerome  D'Aste, 
J.  Guidi  and  A.  Folchi.  Father  Menetrey,  however,  labored  there 
longest  and  resided  in  the  place  for  some  time.  Hence  he  may 
be  called,  with  good  reason,  the  first  Pastor  of  Frenchtown. 

The  discovery  of  gold  in  Cedar  Creek  and  adjacent  gulches 
below  Frenchtown  in  1869  brought  quite  an  influx  of  population 
in  this  section  of  Montana.  The  gold  excitement,  however,  did 
not  last  long,  but  during  the  while  it  did,  several  mining  camps 
sprang  up  in  the  Cedar  Creek  region,  which  Father  Menetrey 
attended  at  stated  times  from  Frenchtown,  where  he  was  resid- 
ing. With  the  giving  out  of  the  diggings,  most  of  the  people 
left,  not  only  the  miners,  but  likewise  those  who  had  moved  to 
Frenchtown  or  had  settled  here  and  there  in  the  vicinity  because 
of  the  mines.  Notwithstanding,  some  straggling  few  remained, 
adding  thus  to  the  scant  population  of  the  district. 

In  the  mid  seventies,  Father  Giorda,  assisted  by  Father  L.  Van 


386        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

Gorp,  gave  a  few  days  mission  in  the  village  church,  the  first 
mission  ever  preached  to  whites  in  Montana.  God  blessed  the 
work  in  a  perceptible  manner  and  what,  particularly,  seemed  to 
dispose  the  people  to  the  action  of  grace  on  the  occasion,  was  a 
gruesome  incident.  The  Fathers  had  gone  through  the  town  the 
day  before  to  invite  everybody  to  attend  the  exercises,  which 
would  begin  the  next  day.  All  seemed  to  be  willing  with  the 
exception  of  two  notorious  individuals  who  not  only  spurned  the 
invitation,  but  took  occasion  from  it  to  mock  the  mission  and 
missionaries  with  open  contempt  in  the  presence  of  several  others, 
who  were  much  scandalized  by  such  conduct.  The  next  morning 
one  of  the  two  scoffers,  whilst  at  work  in  the  grist  mill,  hardly  a 
stone's  throw  from  where  the  Fathers  were  preaching,  came  to 
his  death,  being  instantly  killed  by  an  accident.  The  sad  occur- 
rence, in  all  its  details,  made  a  profound  impression  on  the  whole 
community,  and  not  a  few  looked  upon  it  as  a  visitation  from  on 
high  and  a  warning  for  all.  Though  somewhat  later  on,  an 
equally  sad  and  mournful  ending  befell  the  other  also :  he  was 
found  burned  beyond  recognition,  literally  to  a  crisp,  in  his  own 

shop. 

We  have  mentioned  above  that  the  Superior  of  these  Missions 
had  the  faculty  from  the  Holy  See  to  administer  Confirmation  to 
both  Indians  and  whites  within  the  limits  of  his  jurisdiction. 
Availing  himself  of  the  privilege,  Father  Giorda  confirmed  forty- 
two  people  here  in  Frenchtown,  February  21,  1875,  and  eight  in 
Missoula,  July  4,  of  the  same  year.  But  it  was  his  personal 
observation  that,  whilst  it  made  little  or  no  difference  with  the 
Indians  by  whom  they  might  be  confirmed,  whether  a  Bishop  or 
priest,  as  a  matter  of  fact  white  people  did  not  care  to  receive 
Confirmation  at  the  hands  of  a  simple  priest.  Hence  he  was 
rather  loath  to  use  the  privilege  among  the  whites. 

Four  years  later,  August  19,  1879,  Confirmation  was  again 
administered  in  the  little  log  church  of  Frenchtown;  not,  how- 
ever, by  Father  Giorda,  but  His  Grace,  Charles  J.  Seghers,  who 
had  come  on  his  first  visitation  of  Western  Montana.  On  his 
second  visitation,  four  years  later,  the  saintly  prelate  admin- 
istered the  same  sacrament  in  the  little  log  church  of  the  village, 
whose  site,  however,  about  this  time,  or  very  shortly  after,  that 


FRENCHTOIVN  MISSION  387 

is,  in  1879-80,  was  changed  for  another  more  desirable,  closer 
to  the  center  of  the  town  and  more  convenient  for  the  people. 

In  1881-2  two  Sisters  from  Missoula  taught  the  public  school 
of  the  Frenchtown  district,  where  most  of  the  settlers  were 
Catholics.  The  opening  of  a  private  school  in  the  same  locality 
seems  also  to  have  been  contemplated  by  the  Missoula  Community 
at  this  time.  But  if  at  all  conceived,  the  scheme  never  took  the 
shape  or  form  of  a  practical  move.* 

The  agreement  pursuant  to  which  the  spiritual  care  of  French- 
town  and  vicinity  was  to  be  taken  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Jesuit 
Fathers  went  into  effect  in  the  summer  of  1884,  with  the  arrival 
of  the  Rev.  L.  S.  Tremblay,  the  first  secular  priest  assigned  to 
that  charge.  Hailed  with  great  joy  by  the  whole  community, 
the  first  steps  of  the  new  Pastor  were  directed  toward  the  build- 
ing of  a  better  and  larger  church,  the  old  one  being  not  only 
shabby  and  rickety,  but  inadequate  for  the  congregation.  The 
new  edifice  is  a  frame  structure,  yet  solid  and  substantial  above 
the  common.  It  measures  forty  by  eighty  feet,  and  cost,  in 
round  figures,  some  eight  thousand  dollars.  It  was  blessed  and 
dedicated  under  the  title  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  whilst  the 
original  church  had  been  named  after  St.  Louis. 

In  December,  1885,  Father  Tremblay  went  to  Butte,  where  he 
remained  a  little  over  a  year,  Frenchtown  during  the  while  being 
visited  three  or  four  times  by  Father  Dols.  In  the  fall  of  1886 
a  Canadian  priest  was  put  in  charge  of  the  Frenchtown  Mission, 
who  held  it  only  for  a  few  months.  Father  Tremblay  returned 
in  1887,  a  little  before  the  opening  of  spring,  and  stayed  till  the 
fore  part  of  the  next  January,  when  poor  health  caused  him  to 
leave  this  part  of  the  country  for  a  milder  and  more  congenial 
climate  in  Utah.  This  left  Frenchtown  again  without  a  priest 
for  several  months,  that  is,  till  the  following  September,  when 
the  Rev.  Honore  B.  Allayes  became  the  Pastor  of  that  commu- 
nity. 

^  Father  Allayes  is  a  native  of  Woesten,  West  Flanders,  Bel- 
gium, where  he  was  born  July  4,  1857.  He  began  his  studies  at 
St.  Louis  College,  Dixmuide,  and  continued  them  in  the  Little 

*A  school  was  eventually  established  in  Frenchtown  by  the  Sisters  of 
Providence. 


388       CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

Seminary  of  Rousselare.  In  October,  1878,  he  entered  the  theo- 
logical Seminary  of  Brouges,  where  he  was  raised  to  the  priest- 
hood by  the  Rt.  Rev.  J.  J.  Faict,  August  2,  1882.  After  filling 
the  duties  of  a  Professor  in  the  College  of  Mouscron,  West 
Flanders,  he  was  promoted  to  the  Rectorship  of  the  Catholic 
schools  at  Blackenberghe.  Longing,  however,  to  devote  himself 
to  missionary  work  in  the  United  States  of  America,  he  resigned 
his  position  in  1888,  and  after  a  short  stay  at  the  American  Col- 
lege, Louvain,  he  left  his  native  home  for  the  field  of  his  choice, 
namely,  Montana,  whither  he  arrived  in  the  month  of  July,  and 
where  he  soon  proved  himself  a  devoted  and  excellent  worker. 
His  being  assigned  to  the  Rectorship  of  the  church  and  Mission 
of  Frenchtown  was,  indeed,  no  small  blessing  for  our  Catholic 
people  of  that  district. 

The  field  first  confided  to  Father  Allayes,  shortly  after  his 
arrival  in  Montana,  consisted  of  the  Frenchtown  Valley  proper 
only.  Recently,  however,  it  has  been  vastly  extended  owing  to 
the  very  rapid  settling  of  that  portion  of  the  County  which  lies 
north  and  west  of  Flat  Head  Lake.  This  section  of  Montana 
just  opened  to  settlement  by  the  Great  Northern,  which  traverses 
it  on  its  course  to  the  Coast,  has  attracted  quite  an  immigration. 
Kalispel  and  Columbia  Falls  have  come  into  existence  the  last 
two  years  and  rank  already  among  the  promising  communities  of 
our  new  state.  In  each  of  these  two  towns  a  church  is  being 
built  by  Father  Allayes,  as  the  places  belong  to  his  jurisdiction 
and  are  attended  by  him  from  Frenchtown. 

To  reach  those  places  the  missionary  must  travel  a  distance  of 
at  least  120  miles,  partly  by  coach,  partly  by  rail,  and  partly  also 
by  boat.  First,  by  coach  from  Frenchtown  to  De  Smet  or  to 
Missoula ;  then  by  rail  to  Ravalli ;  now  again  by  coach  to  the  foot 
of  Flat  Head  Lake;  lastly  by  boat  to  the  head  of  the  same  lake. 
The  journey  or  route  is,  indeed,  varied,  nay,  charming,  as  it 
runs  through  a  scenery  and  landscape  of  wood  and  prairie,  hill 
and  dale,  land  and  lake,  brook  and  river,  white  and  Indian,  the 
equal  of  which  is  hard  to  find. 

Several  new  settlements  have  also  risen  along  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railway  between  the  western  boundary  of  the  Jocko 
Reservation  and  the  Idaho  line.  With  the  exception  of  Plains, 
of  which  we  shall  say  a  word  directly,  they  likewise  have  been 


FRENCHTOWN  MISSION  389 

attached  to  the  Frenchtown  Mission,  and  are  under  the  pastoral 
care  of  Father  Allayes.  Thus  far,  however,  no  church  in  any 
of  them  has  been  erected. 

Horse  Plains,  now  simply  Plains,  is  a  little  village  west  of 
and  adjacent  to  the  Jocko  Reservation.  The  lay  and  shape  of 
the  locality  has  all  the  appearance  of  a  large  amphitheater  and  is 
a  charming  spot.  The  settlement  contains  several  Catholic 
families,  and  has  also  a  neat  little  church  built  in  1889,  by  the 
Jesuit  Fathers,  who  for  several  years  have  been  attending  the 
colony  from  the  Mission  of  St.  Ignatius.  The  church  was  blessed 
and  named  after  St.  James,  the  Greater,  by  the  Ordinary,  the  Rt. 
Rev.  J.  B.  Brondel,  October  6,  1889. 

Apart  from  Plains,  the  Catholic  population  of  the  district 
spoken  of,  and  which  numbered  only  five  hundred  at  the  close 
of  1888,  had  risen  to  more  than  three  times  as  many  by  the 
beginning  of  1891,  with  a  corresponding  increase  in  the  number 
of  Baptisms.  These  counted  sixty-two  in  1891,  whereas  there 
were  no  more  than  twenty-three  in  1888. 

It  is  well  to  put  on  record  here  that  Father  Allayes  is  entitled 
to  the  credit  of  having  recently  discovered  a  new  method  by 
which  mosaic  work  is  greatly  facilitated.  The  process  recom- 
mends itself  by  its  simplicity,  and  is  substantially  as  follows: 
Upon  a  glass  plate,  placed  over  the  object  to  be  reproduced  in 
mosaic,  is  traced  a  transparent  copy  of  the  object.  This  tracing 
is  then  followed  out  with  mosaic  blocks  corresponding  in  shade 
and  color  to  the  shades  and  colors  of  the  original,  the  various 
blocks  being  worked  in  from  the  opposite  side  of  the  trans- 
parency and,  lastly,  cemented  together.  When  the  cement  has  set 
and  by  its  hardening  the  different  parts  are  bound  and  firmly 
held  together,  the  glass  plate  is  removed  from  over  the  object  and 
now  the  work  is  polished  and  finished  up.  By  such  simple  and 
easy  process  portraits,  paintings  and  colored  pictures  of  any 
kind  can  be  reproduced  in  mosaic  with  far  greater  facility  and 
perfection  than  could  be  by  the  old  methods.  The  invention  is 
protected  by  letter  patents  in  the  United  States  and  several 
foreign  countries. 

As  will  be  told  in  a  separate  chapter  devoted  to  the  memory 
of  Montana  pioneer  missionaries  who  have  ended  their  course, 
Father  Allayes  has  passed  away,  and  the  northern  part  of  the 


390        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

field  cultivated  by  him  has  been  divided  into  several  Missions, 
with  a  resident  priest  in  each,  which  goes  to  show  how  this  whole 
section  has  been  advancing  during  the  last  few  years. 

As  to  the  portion  of  the  field  directly  west  of  Frenchtown,  it, 
too,  has  been  opened  to  settlement  and  civilization,  although  not 
to  a  very  large  extent  owing  to  the  nature  of  the  country,  which 
is  mostly  mountains.  Nevertheless,  several  towns  and  settle- 
ments have  come  into  existence  here  and  there  along  the  tortuous 
course  of  the  branch  line  of  the  Northern  Pacific,  which  zigzags 
its  way  into  Wallace,  Idaho,  from  Montana.  And,  no  doubt, 
similar  results  will  also  follow  on  the  wake  of  the  Milwaukee, 
now  building  over  part  of  the  same  territory.  But  the  new  places, 
so  far,  have  been  attended  from  Frenchtown.  For  all  young 
communities  are  like  minors,  they  must  outgrow  their  depend- 
ency.* 

With  this  we  close  our  chronicle  of  the  Frenchtown  church, 
and  pass  on  to  local  history  of  Catholicity  in  several  places  in 
Eastern  Montana. 

*  The  places    referred   to   have   outgrown   their   dependency   and  are   now 
attended  by  a  member  of  the  diocesan  clergy  who  resides  at  Superior. 


Chapter  XIV. 

SUN  RIVER,  LEWISTOWN,  GREAT  FALLS. 

THE  places  which  in  chronological  order  now  demand  our 
attention  are  those  just  named  in  the  heading  of  this  chapter. 

Here,  however,  two  things  are  to  be  borne  in  mind  by  the 
reader:  first,  that  we  write  of  these  places  as  they  were,  not  as 
they  are;  secondly,  that,  as  our  narrative  does  not  come  further 
down  than  the  close  of  189 1,  we  need  not  apologize  for  the 
meagre  and  beggarly  account  given  in  these  pages  of  both 
Lewistown  and  Great  Falls.  The  former's  growth  and  develop- 
ment in  later  years  has  been  almost  phenomenal.  Even  more  so 
is  this  the  case  with  Great  Falls,  it  being  today  an  Episcopal  See 
over  which  the  Rt.  Rev.  Mathias  Lenihan  benevolently  rules,  and 
also  the  second  largest  city  in  the  state.  But  future  happenings 
are  not  matter  of  history,  and  since  what  is  here  simply  alluded 
to  came  to  pass  subsequently  to  the  time  limit  of  this  chronicle, 
obviously  we  could  not  but  abstract  from  it  and  pass  it  by. 

The  same  applies  to  every  other  community  in  the  state, 
whether  the  question  be  of  incipiency  or  progress,  that  is,  of  new 
settlements  in  the  first  stages  of  formation,  or  of  communities 
already  formed  and  progressive.  For  many  new  towns  have 
sprung  up  the  last  twenty-five  years  all  over  Montana,  whilst 
Catholicity  has  been  gaining  and  forging  ahead  everywhere. 
Should  not  all  this  have  found  a  place  in  these  pages  by  bringing 
the  present  edition  of  Indian  and  White  in  the  Northwest  up  to 
date?  It  would  seem  so,  although,  as  already  stated,  it  was  not 
to  be,  circumstances  beyond  the  writer's  control  being  in  the  way. 
This,  however,  is  altogether  irrelevant.  For  abler  pens  will  not 
fail  to  take  up  and  do  the  whole  subject  full  justice,  a  thing  hardly 
to  be  expected  from  the  present  writer. 

But  let  us  proceed  with  the  earlier  history  of  each  of  the  places 
indicated. 


392        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

Sun  River  District. 

Sun  River  is  a  small  farming  and  stock  raising  settlement  and 
among  the  oldest  in  Montana.  It  contains  several  Catholic 
families,  for  whose  benefit  Father  Prando  in  1883  erected  a 
small  chapel,  locating  it  close  to  the  right  bank  of  the  river  and 
naming  it  after  St.  Joseph. 

Whilst  Fort  Shaw,  established  a  few  miles  from  the  same  spot 
in  1866,  has  been  quite  recently  abandoned,  new  communities 
have  come  into  existence  in  other  parts  of  this  whole  district. 
Mitchell,  Craig,  Wolfcreek,  along  the  Montana  Central  Railway, 
Augusta  and  Florence,  on  the  South  Fork  of  Sun  River,  as  well 
as  Choteau,  on  the  Upper  Teton,  are  all  new  settlements.  These 
different  colonies,  with  several  others  scattered  over  a  large  tract 
of  country,  are  occasionaly  visited  from  St.  Peter's  Mission. 

We  have  at  hand  no  official  figures  giving  the  exact  number  of 
Catholics  in  this  section.  But  from  other  sources  and  sufficiently 
reliable,  they  can  safely  be  reckoned  at  one  thousand  in  round 
numbers  and  rather  above  than  below. 

Lewistown. 

This  is  a  prosperous  and  very  promising  community  by  reason 
of  the  various  resources  such  as  rich  mines,  fertile  lands  and  best 
ranges  and  pastures  for  stock,  which  are  all  tributary  thereto. 
It  is  also  the  seat  and  principal  center  of  Fergus,  a  new  county 
created  in  1885.  It  having  been  opened  to  the  whites  only 
recently,  this  part  of  Montana  is  as  yet  but  thinly  settled.  But 
it  cannot  be  doubted  that  it  will  contain  a  large  population  in  the 
near  future. 

Among  the  first  settlers  of  Lewistown  and  vicinity  are  a 
number  of  Crees  and  Red  River  half-breeds,  who  formerly  had 
their  homes  in  the  Judith  Basin,  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Little  Rockies  for  many  years,  and  thence  moved  into  this  new 
section.  They  are  all  Catholics  besides  being  also  active  and 
industrious  above  the  average  for  half-breeds.  As  to  the  white 
population,  in  both  the  town  and  surroundings,  it  is  but  partly  of 
the  faith,  pretty  much  as  elsewhere. 

Our  good  people  of  this  community,  by  common  accord  and 
entirely  on  their  own  initiative,  have  erected  and  furnished  a 
neat  little  church,  which  is  a  credit  to  them  and  their  practical 


St.  Ann's  Church,  Great  Falls 


St.  Andrew's  Church,  Granite 


SUN  RIVER,  LEWISTOWN,  GREAT  FALLS  393 

faith.  Henry  Brooks,  an  exemplary  Catholic  and  the  very  kind 
gentleman  whom  we  met,  as  related  in  Part  I,  at  the  bedside  of 
Father  Rappagliosi,  caring  for  and  nursing  the  dying  missionary 
with  the  tenderness  of  a  mother,  was  the  leading  spirit  and  prime 
mover  in  the  enterprise.  Mr.  Juneau,  one  of  the  first  settlers  of 
the  town,  donated  the  site ;  and  the  chapel  was  blessed  and  named 
after  St.  Leo  by  Bishop  Brondel,  September  2,  1888. 

The  Catholic  community  of  Lewistown  and  environs  numbers 
close  on  eight  hundred  and  has  been  visited  for  several  years 
from  St.  Peter's  Mission,  a  distance  of  140  miles.* 

Great  Falls. 

Although  the  last  to  come  into  existence  and  still  in  its  infancy, 
dating  no  more  than  eight  years  back  from  our  writing,  this 
community  is  very  apt  to  outgrow  every  other  in  the  state.  This, 
at  least,  is  the  writer's  belief  and  what  he  ventured  to  express 
time  and  again  from  the  early  seventies,  when  the  locality, 
apart  from  its  mighty  waterfalls,  was  hardly  anything  better 
than  a  wild  and  howling  desert. 

Yet  this  very  locality  had  attracted  the  attention  of  Lewis 
and  Clark  in  their  travels,  who  speak  glowingly  of  all  this 
section,  but  particularly  of  the  spot  where  Sun  or  Medicine  River 
and  the  Missouri  come  together,  the  present  site  of  Great  Falls. 
Paris  Gibson  is  credited  with  being  the  founder  of  the  new  com- 
munity, and  rightly  so,  although  he  himself  yields  much  of  the 
credit  to  the  foresight,  energy  and  enterprise  of  James  Hill,  of 
railroad  fame.  Great  Falls  has  today  (this  was  some  twenty 
years  ago)  a  population  of  five  thousand  souls. 

The  place  was  first  attended  by  Jesuit  Fathers  from  the  Mission 
of  St.  Peter.  Later  on  it  became  a  dependency  of  Helena,  it 
being  visited  for  sometime  by  some  of  the  clergy  attached  to  the 
Cathedral,  nominally,  by  Father  A.  H.  Lambaere,  who  erected 
on  the  site  a  brick  church.  The  first  Mass  therein  was  offered  up 
by  the  Ordinary  himself  on  Rosary  Sunday,  1890.  The  dedication 
of  the  church,  however,  did  not  take  place  that  Sunday,  but  on, 
a  subsequent  occasion,  when  the  Bishop  blessed  the  new  edifice 
formally  and  named  it  after  St.  Ann. 

Including  Barker,  Neihart  and  Sand  Coulee,  the  Catholics  of 

*  Lewistown,  of  course,  now  has  a  resident  pastor  with  two  assistants. 


394        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

the  district  are  reckoned  at  one  thousand  in  round  figures.  It 
is  now  their  good  fortune  to  have  a  resident  priest  ministering  to 
their  spiritual  wants,  Father  J.  J.  Dols,  recently  transferred  to 
this  new  field  from  Dillon.* 

The  Sisters  of  Providence  are  preparing  to  locate  in  Great 
Falls,  where  it  is  their  intention  to  erect  and  conduct  an  up-to-date 
hospital,  suitable  and  commodious  buildings  for  the  purpose 
being  under  actual  construction.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  it 
will  be  a  valuable  asset,  and  an  additional  factor  of  the  town's 

*  The  following  comparative  statistics  are  taken  from  the  Catholic  Directory 
and  will  give  one  an  idea  of  the  marvelous  growth  of  the  Diocese  of  Great 
Falls  from  the  time  it  was  segregated  from  the  Diocese  of  Helena  which  com- 
prised the  whole  state  of  Montana,  1904,  to  the  present  time,  1922.  Diocesan 
Priests,  1904,  ",  1922,  49;  Priests  of  Religious  Orders,  1904,  5,  1922,  16; 
Total  number  of  Priests,  1904  16,  1922,  65;  Number  of  Churches,  1904,  24, 
1922,  125;  Missions  and  Stations,  1904,  28,  1922,  140;  Ecclesiastical  Students, 
1904,  6,  1922,  26;  Academies  and  Schools,  1904,  1,  1922,  14;  Orphans'  Home, 
1904,  o,  1922,  1 ;  Hospitals,  1904,  4,  1922,  7 ;  Catholic  population,  1904,  10,000, 
1922,  39,450.  From  the  foregoing  statistics  it  will  be  seen  that  the  number  of 
priests,  churches,  Missions  and  Ecclesiastical  students  is  much  greater  in  the 
Diocese  of  Great  Falls,  which  is  only  18  years  old,  than  the  original  diocese 
which  comprised  the  whole  state  of  Montana,  during  the  preceding  64  years. 
Today  the  Diocese  of  Great  Falls  is  blessed  with  sixty-five  pious,  learned  and 
most  zealous  missionary  priests  who  have  been  instrumental  in  bringing  many 
converts  into  the  Church  and  in  building  over  one  hundred  churches,  schools 
and  parochial  residences  during  the  past  ten  years. 

Recapitulation.  There  are  three  different  Religious  Orders  of  Men  and 
seven  different  Religious  Orders  of  Women  in  the  Diocese.  There  are  a  dozen 
schools  and  academies  located  in  the  following  places.  Great  Falls — St.  Mary's 
Institute  and  High  School,  conducted  by  the  Sisters  of  Humility — Home  for 
Working  Girls,  conducted  by  Dominican  Tertiaries.  Mother  House,  Sacred 
Heart  Academy — Mother  House  and  Novitiate  of  Sisters  of  Humility.  Round- 
up— St.  Benedict  Parochial  School,  Ursuline  Sisters,  West  Great  Falls,  St. 
Thomas  Orphans'  Ursuline  Academy.  Billings — St.  Patrick's  Parochial  School, 
Sisters  of  Charity  (Leavenworth).  Havre — St.  Leo's  Parochial  School,  Daugh- 
ters of  Jesus.  Livingston — St.  Mary's  Parochial  School,  Sisters  of  Charity. 
Miles  City — Sacred  Heart  Academy,  Ursuline  Sisters — St.  Xavier — Indian 
Industrial  School,  Ursuline  Sisters — St.  Paul,  Indian  Industrial  School,  Ur- 
suline Sisters — St.  Labre — (Ashland  P.  O.)  Indian  Industrial  School,  Ur- 
suline Sisters.  Three  more  parochial  schools  will  be  erected  the  coming  year. 
There  is  o'ne  Diocesan  Orphans'  Home  at  Great  Falls  and  six  large  hospitals 
in  the  following  cities  :  Great  Falls — Columbus  Hospital — Sisters  of  Charity 
of  Providence.  Billings — St.  Vincent's  Hospital — Sisters  of  Charity  (Leaven- 
worth). Fort  Benton — St.  Clare's  Hospital — Sisters  of  Charity  of  Providence. 
Havre — Sacred  Heart  Hospital — Sisters  of  St.  Francis.  Lewistown — St. 
Joseph's  Hospital — Daughters  of  Jesus.  Miles  City — St.  Mary's  Hospital — 
Presentation  Sisters. 


S  UN  RI VER,  LE  WIS  TO  I VN,  GREA  T  FA  LLS  395 

advancement,  by  bringing  in  its  train  care,  relief,  comfort  and 
many  another  blessing  in  behalf  of  the  suffering  members  of  the 
community.  For  fortunate,  indeed,  are  all  new  communities 
having  some  such  benevolent  and  religious  establishment  m 
their  midst.  Its  erection  coinciding  with  the  celebration  of  the 
fourth  centenary  of  America's  discovery,  the  institution  is  to  be 
be  known  as  Columbus  Hospital,  after  the  name  of  the  great 
discoverer. 

And  with  this  we  leave  Great  Falls  and  the  whole  of  northern 
Montana  and  return  to  the  local  history  of  the  Helena  Mission 
and  its  dependencies. 


Chapter  XV. 

THE  SISTERS  AND  THE  INDIGENT  SICK  OF  THE  COUNTY. 
THE  INSANE  AND  THE  ORPHANS. 

THE  reader  will  remember  that  we  parted  with  the  Helena 
Mission  toward  the  close  of  1870,  just  after  the  opening  of 
St.  John's  Hospital. 

Needless  to  say,  the  new  institution  proved  from  the  start 
a  signal  blessing  for  many  poor  sufferers  from  the  town  and 
vicinity  who  were  brought  in  for  care  and  medical  treatment. 
As  a  consequence,  the  accommodations  proved  inadequate  and 
had  to  be  enlarged  a  couple  of  times  within  the  space  of  a 
few  years. 

At  the  beginning,  only  private  patients  sought  admission  into 
the  hospital.  But  soon  after,  the  indigent  sick  of  the  County 
of  Lewis  and  Clark,  and  later  on  those  also  of  Jefferson  and 
Meagher  Counties  were  confided  to  the  Sisters'  care.  This 
arrangement  continued  for  several  years,  and  while  it  secured 
much  better  treatment  for  the  patients,  it  also  entailed  con- 
siderably less  expense  on  the  counties. 

At  last,  however,  some  wise  official  made  the  astounding 
discovery  that  in  the  case  of  sick  people  depending  on  public 
assistance,  a  poorer  treatment,  but  withal  much  costlier,  would 
be  a  gain  and  preferable  to  any  other  that  had  the  disadvan- 
tage of  being  better  and  costing  less !  On  the  strength  of  this 
argument — utterly  unintelligible  to  plain  common  sense,  but 
clear  enough  to  the  eyes  of  an-axe-to-grind  policy — the  indigent 
sick  of  Lewis  and  Clark  County  were  withdrawn  from  the 
Sisters  and  sent  back  to  the  poor-farm. 

The  action  was  justified  on  the  ground  that  the  too  great  care 
which  the  Sisters  took  of  the  patients  increased  the  number  of 
applicants  for  admission  into  the  hospital,  and  thus  brought  a 
much  greater  and  unnecessary  expense  on  the  county.  We 
ourselves  heard  the  plea  seriously  advanced  by  the  members  of 
the  Board. 


SISTERS  AT  HELENA  397 

But,  apart  from  the  humane,  we  mean  inhuman,  philosophy 
that  underlay  the  reasoning — the  philosophy  of  spoiling  and 
making  the  meat  unpalatable  lest  some  hungry  fellow  should 
ask  for  a  bite — it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  Sisters  admitted  no 
patient  as  a  county  charge  unless  he  was  sent  to  them  by  the 
Commissioners  themselves  or  their  authorized  agent,  the  county 
physician,  and  presented,  besides,  the  proper  hospital  permit, 
signed  by  one  or  the  other  of  those  officials.  Now,  the  appli- 
cants for  the  privilege  of  being  considered  and  treated  as 
paupers  would  be  persons  really  destitute  and  in  need  of  public 
assistance  or  the  reverse.  If  the  former;  how  could  they  be 
refused  by  the  Board?  Was  there  not  a  poor  fund  levied  for 
that  very  purpose  ?  And  let  it  be  said  to  their  credit  and  honor, 
no  more  substantial  sympathy  and  more  unstinted  liberality  were 
ever  shown  toward  poor  suffering  fellow-beings  than  by  our 
Montana  people.  If  the  applicants  were  not  in  need,  and  yet  hos- 
pital permits  were  issued  to  them,  on  whom  could  the  blame 
fall  except  the  officials  themselves,  by  whom  alone  the  permits 
were  issued? 

But  strange  enough,  while  the  Commissioners  were  setting 
up  the  plea  of  too  much  care,  there  lay  before  their  eyes  the 
official  report  of  their  county  physician,  charging  the  Sisters  with 
the  very  opposite,  that  is,  with  want  of  care  toward  the  same 
patients,  and  specifically,  with  "feeding  them  on  pious  talk, 
instead  of  supplying  them  with  well  prepared  and  wholesome 
food."     The  report  is  on  file  in  the  county  clerk's  office. 

But,  it  may  be  asked,  why  such  contradictory  statements? 
Could  there  be  any  collusion  between  the  Board  and  their  physi- 
cian, that  under  one  or  the  other  of  these  trumped  up,  albeit 
contradictory  charges,  the  patients  might  be  removed  from  the 
Sisters  with  some  pretense  or  semblance  of  legality?  We  can- 
not say.  This  we  know,  however,  that  it  was  a  foregone  con- 
clusion that  the  Commissioners  would  leave  the  poor  sick  with 
the  Sisters  no  longer  and  that  the  physician's  report,  if  not  due 
to  collusion,  could  only  be  prompted  by  prejudice. 

If  that  medico  had  been  an  unbiased  professional  man,  he 
would  have  known  that  religion,  even  from  no  more  than  a 
medical  point  of  view  and  as  admitted  by  the  best  and  wisest 
physicians,  is  an  agent  of  unexceptional  curative  value,  all  its 


398        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

own,  and  that  a  little  pious  talk  at  the  lips  of  a  gentle  Sister 
of  Charity  has  cheered  and  comforted  in  their  ills  and  bodily 
aches  thousands  of  sufferers. 

But  since  it  was  not  care,  but  no-care  that  the  Commissioners 
wanted,  and  this,  according  to  the  report  just  referred  to,  they 
had  already  secured  in  St.  John's  Hospital,  does  it  not  seem 
that  the  proper  thing  for  them  to  do  would  have  been  to  leave 
their  patients  where  they  were,  that  is,  in  the  hands  of  the 
Sisters?  Quite  so;  only,  that  the  charge  of  lack  of  care  brought 
against  these  devoted  souls  was  so  utterly  groundless,  on  its 
face  and  in  the  Commissioner's  own  and  everybody  else's  eyes, 
that  the  one  plea  on  which  those  gentlemen  sought  to  justify 
their  action  was  not  want  of  care,  but  the  very  reverse,  that 
is,  because  county  paupers  were  too  well  treated  and  had  too 
good  a  time  at  the  Sisters'  Hospital. 

As  they  had  done  for  several  years  past,  so  also  now  the 
Sisters  put  in  their  bid  for  the  care  and  maintenance  of  the 
indigent  sick  of  the  county.  But  the  Commissioners  were 
resolved  that  the  contract  should  no  longer  go  to  them;  and 
to  make  sure  of  this,  as  well  as  to  carry  their  point  with  some 
apparent  show  of  fairness  and  legality,  straw  bids,  so-called, 
were  brought  into  play  and  made  to  do  the  work.  The  change 
proved  anything  but  welcome  to  the  patients,  but  there  was  no 
helping  the  poor  fellows. 

Being  present  when  the  Commissioners  gave  out  the  con- 
tract, Mother  Josephine,  at  this  time  in  charge  of  St.  John's 
Hospital,  created  no  little  merriment  in  connection  therewith. 
Straw  bids  were  mentioned  on  the  occasion,  and  as  strazv  bids 
and  strazv  beds  sound  much  alike,  somehow  the  good  Mother 
misunderstood  the  former  expression  for  the  latter,  with  the 
further  misapprehension  that  the  Sisters  were  being  actually 
blamed  for  giving  to  county  patients  none  but  beds  of  straw 
to  sleep  on.  Upon  this,  she  rose  to  her  feet  and  entered  a 
solemn  protest  before  the  Board  and  the  rest,  declaring  that  there 
never  had  been  in  St.  John's  Hospital  such  a  thing  as  a  straw 
bed. 

The  Sisters  cared  for  the  poor  and  sick  of  this  county  (Lewis 
and  Clark)  from  1871  to  1880,  and  for  those  of  Jefferson  and 
Meagher  Counties  from  1872  to   1886. 


SISTERS  AT  HELENA  39g 

Besides  tending  and  nursing  the  sick  and  poor  of  these  coun- 
ties, the  insane  of  the  Territory  were  also  in  their  keeping  for 
several  years.  Thus,  the  first  insane  asylum  in  Montana  was 
conducted  by  the  Sisters  of  Leavenworth,  and  remained  an 
annex  of  St.  John's  Hospital  up  to  the  establishment  of  the 
present  institution  for  the  insane  at  Warm  Springs,  Deer  Lodge 
County. 

The  taking  of  this  work  from  the  Sisters  had  much  the  look 
of  political  jobbery  at  the  time.  Nevertheless,  some  such  meas- 
ure would  have  had  to  be  adopted  by  the  authorities  before  long, 
it  being  rendered  necessary  by  the  ever  increasing  number  of 
the  demented. 

The  quarters,  left  vacant  by  the  removal  of  the  insane  to 
Deer  Lodge,  were  now  turned  to  another  purpose;  they  were 
entirely  remodeled  and  converted  into  a  home  for  orphan  chil- 
dren. The  new  institution  opened  its  doors  in  April,  1880, 
under  the  name  and  patronage  of  St.  Jerome,  because  Jerome 
happened  to  be  the  Christian  name  of  the  first  orphan  received. 
How  many  little  ones  have  since  found  in  this  plain  and  unpre- 
tentious dwelling  a  comfortable  home,  and  more  than  a  home's 
fostering  care  at  the  hands  of  the  good  Sisters  in  charge! 

This  new  establishment  was  also  the  first  of  its  kind  in  the 
Territory,  and  thus  to  the  Sisters  of  Leavenworth  is  due  the 
credit  for  conducting  the  first  insane  asylum  as  well  as  the  first 
orphanage  in  Montana. 

Though  its  location  was  not  the  best,  owing  especially  to 
want  of  space  and  to  the  rocky  character  of  the  grounds,  the 
orphanage  remained  for  several  years  an  annex  of  St.  John's 
Hospital,  and  with  no  more  than  twenty  to  thirty  orphan  chil- 
dren to  be  housed  and  cared  for,  it  answered  its  purpose  fairly 
well.  But  as  their  number  kept  increasing,  site,  accommoda- 
tions and  all  became  altogether  inadequate  and  undesirable. 
Hence  good  Mother  Josephine,  a  true  mother  to  every  mother- 
less child  she  came  upon,  now  resolved  to  build  a  new  home 
for  the  orphans,  and  such  as,  with  regard  to  location,  size, 
appointments  and  comfort,  should  leave  nothing  to  be  desired. 
Her  efforts  in  that  direction  met  with  gratifying  success,  even 
beyond  her  sanguine  expectations  and,  since  last  October, 
seventy-five  little  ones  live  contentedly  and  happy  in  one  of  the 


400        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

best,  most  comfortable  and  most  solidly  built  structures  in 
Helena. 

Furnishings  included,  the  building  has  cost  over  $40,000.  It 
stands  just  on  the  city  limits,  to  the  north,  and  on  a  site  donated 
for  the  purpose  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  it  being  a  parcel  of  a 
hundred-acre  tract  purchased  by  them  some  time  before  and  on 
which  they  contemplated  erecting  a  college.  The  edifice  is  a 
conspicuous  landmark,  an  inspiring  pile  of  stone  and  brick, 
80  by  100  feet,  three  stories  high,  stairs  and  floors  all  hard 
maple.  It  is  heated  throughout  by  water  and  so  arranged  in 
construction  and  its  every  appointment  that,  though  under  one 
and  the  same  roof,  the  boys'  department  is  entirely  separated 
from  that  of  the  girls. 

Though  construction  work  did  not  begin  till  the  opening  of 
spring  in  1892,  all  preliminary  arrangements  were  perfected 
before  the  close  of  1891.  Work  on  Mother  Josephine's  new 
home  for  the  orphans  continued,  to  the  wonder  of  many, 
through  the  spring  and  summer  of  1892-93,  a  season  of 
unparalleled  business  depression  and  financial  embarrassment. 
But  despite  unfavorable  conditions,  the  good  Mother  went 
steadily  ahead  with  her  task,  till  she  brought  it  to  completion. 
Hers  was  the  cause  of  the  orphan,  which  is  God's  own  cause, 
and  who  working  solely  for  God  has  ever  been  left  to  want 
for  ways  and  means? 

When  transferred  to  their  new  home  the  orphans  counted 
just  forty-two;  their  number  has  more  than  doubled  during 
the  last  few  months. 

But  by  whom  are  so  many  helpless  little  ones  clothed,  fed, 
maintained?  By  Him  Who  clothes  the  lilies  of  the  valley  and 
feeds  the  birds  of  the  air,  by  the  good  God,  through  the  charity 
of  His  servants.  For  no  state  or  county  aid  may  be  extended 
to  these  helpless  children,  because  a  denominational  institution 
has  them  in  its  keeping. 

The  new  orphanage  was  opened  and  dedicated  in  a  befitting 
manner  by  Bishop  Brondel,  who,  assisted  by  the  clergy  of  the 
Cathedral,  formally  blessed  it  and,  placing  it  under  the  patronage 
of  the  head  of  God's  own  Holy  Family  on  earth,  named  it  "St. 
Joseph's  Orphans  Home."  Quite  a  number  of  people  were 
present  and   some  of  the  leading  citizens,   who   spoke   on   the 


SISTERS  AT  HELENA  401 

occasion,  set  forth  very  appropriately  the  advantages  and 
importance  of  the  new  institution. 

Well  worth  mentioning  in  this  connection  is  the  marble  altar 
erected  in  the  orphans'  chapel  by  the  Galen  family  as  a  memorial 
of  Matilda  Galen,  to  whom  due  reference  is  made  elsewhere 
in  this  book.  Indeed,  husband  and  children  could  not  have  better 
interpreted  the  wishes  of  wife  and  mother  than  by  the  erection 
of  a  monument,  in  itself  and  all  its  adjuncts,  so  expressive  of 
religion  and  charity,  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  that 
thoroughly  Christian  woman. 

And  now  let  us  retrace  our  steps  and  return  to  the  early 
seventies,  since,  as  the  reader  must  have  noticed,  in  giving  the 
history  of  the  Orphans'  Home  connectedly,  we  have  had  to 
anticipate  even  to  the  point  of  extending  the  time  limit  of  our 
narrative. 

In  November,  1872,  Father  Van  Gorp,  whose  health  was 
failing  somewhat  from  active  missionary  work,  left  for  St. 
Louis,  Mo.,  his  place  in  Helena  for  the  while  being  taken  by 
Father  Giorda.  A  serious  attack  of  erysipelas  during  the  winter 
brought  the  latter  to  death's  door,  his  recovery  being  well-nigh 
despaired  of  at  one  time.  But  skillful  treatment  and  careful 
nursing,  together  with  many  a  fervent  prayer  poured  forth  in 
his  behalf,  obtained  the  saintly  man  a  longer  lease  of  life  for 
the  good  of  these  Missions. 

Father  Van  Gorp  returned  in  the  spring  considerably  improved 
in  health,  but  before  many  months  it  became  apparent  that  the 
light,  keen  air  of  this  altitude  affected  his  heart  unfavorably. 
A  change,  in  consequence,  was  now  decided  upon  by  the  Supe- 
rior who,  late  in  the  fall  of  1873,  assigned  Father  Van  Gorp  to 
St.  Ignatius,  while  the  writer  received  orders  to  go  to  Helena  in 
his  place.  "It  is  but  a  temporary  arrangement,"  wrote  Father 
Giorda,  but  without  ceasing  to  be  temporary  such  arrangements 
often  admit  of  considerable  stretching,  as  came  to  pass  in  our 
own  case.     This,  our  first  stay  in  Helena,  lasted  over  ten  years. 

In  October,  1871,  the  place  had  been  visited  by  a  big  fire 
which  had  left  the  larger  part  of  Main  Street  in  ruins.  But 
far  more  disastrous  was  the  conflagration  of  January,  1874. 

It  was  about  a  quarter  of  7  A.  M. — we  were  then  at  the 
altar  saying  Mass — when  the  alarm  rang  out.     On  re-entering 


402        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

the  sacristy  we  were  terror-stricken  at  the  sight  of  the  sea  of 
seething  flames  below,  in  the  direction  of  Wood  and  upper  Main 
streets,  and  turning  toward  the  Sisters,  who  were  praying  and 
making  their  thanksgiving,  we  told  them  they  had  better  hasten 
out  as  everything  around  was  ablaze.  Sparks,  cinders,  flaming 
shingles  and  live  brands,  driven  through  the  air  by  a  furious 
gale,  fell  everywhere  on  the  hill  as  thick  as  snow  flakes  in  a 
winter  storm.  The  little  church,  the  Fathers'  house,  as  well  as 
the  hospital  and  the  Academy,  caught  fire  several  times  from 
falling  cinders,  and  how  they  escaped  being  wiped  out,  as  were 
so  many  other  buildings,  may  well  be  looked  upon  as  bordering 
on  the  miraculous.  The  Sisters  extinguished  incipient  fires  here 
and  there  with  a  little  holy  water,  all  the  water  supply  that  was 
left.  In  a  few  hours  hundreds  of  thousands  worth  of  property 
melted  away  whilst  several  people  were  also  seriously  injured. 

In  the  afternoon  the  writer  walked  over  the  burnt  district  to 
view  the  devastation  wrought  in  the  morning,  and  words  could 
hardly  express  his  astonishment  at  seeing  laborers  already  at 
work  clearing  away  debris  and  hot  embers  preparatory  to  the 
erection  of  new  and  more  substantial  structures  on  the  bare  and 
blackened  lots.  Surely,  here  was  pluck  and  recuperative  energy 
enough  to  inspire  one  with  confidence  in  the  permanency  of 
the  town,  and  therefore,  prompted  by  the  example  before  us, 
we  now  resolved  on  some  improvements  much  needed  on  Catholic 
Hill. 

The  first  of  these  improvements  was  to  replace  the  little 
steamboat  bell  with  a  large  one  weighing  2,000  pounds, 
exclusive  of  mountings,  and  costing,  freight  included,  $846.  It 
was  cast  in  Troy,  New  York,  and  its  transportation  to  Helena 
from  Corinne,  Utah,  the  nearest  railroad  terminus  at  the  time, 
took  over  sixty  days.  It  sent  forth  its  first  sounds  whilst  being 
blessed,  June  29,  the  Feast  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  and  from 
then  on  it  rang  out  the  Angelus  daily  at  6  A.  M.  noon  and  6 
P.  M.  The  laboring  people  of  the  town,  especially  on  workdays, 
took  their  time  from  it,  while  on  Sundays  and  holydays  of 
obligation  the  lukewarm  Catholic  had  scarcely  an  excuse  for 
his  tardiness  at  Mass. 

By  this  time,  however,  the  old  church  had  become  much  too 
small  for  the  worshipers.     Hence,  at  a  general  meeting  of  our 


SISTERS  AT  HELENA  403 

Catholic  people,  held  August  16,  1874,  it  was  unanimously 
resolved  to  erect  a  new  and  larger  church  soon.  As  a  step  in 
that  direction,  five  members  of  the  congregation  were  appointed 
a  Building  Committee,  with  L.  F.  La  Croix,  chairman,  and 
Major  Robert  C.  Walker,  U.  S.  A.,  secretary,  to  cooperate 
with  the  pastor,  and  devise  means  and  ways  to  attain  the  object 
in  view.  The  pastor  and  the  Building  Committee  finally  accepted 
plans  and  specifications  for  a  building  of  the  following  dimen- 
sions:  Main  building,  43  by  95  feet;  rear  prolongation,  18  by 
22  feet;  the  whole  structure  to  be  of  solid  brick  with  stone 
foundation  and  facings  of  cut  granite. 

Building  operations  started  soon  after,  two  Germans,  H. 
Miller  and  his  partner,  H.  Tamm,  a  non-Catholic,  both  stone 
masons  by  trade,  laying  the  foundations  gratuitously.  The 
blessing  of  the  cornerstone  took  place  with  solemnity  September 
29,  Father  Giorda  officiating,  and  Father  Van  Gorp,  from  St. 
Ignatius,  preaching  the  sermon  for  the  occasion,  while  Father 
A.  Diomedi,  who  had  arrived  from  Europe  three  or  four  days 
before,  directed  the  music.  The  foundations  were  completed 
before  winter  set  in  and  work  on  the  superstructure,  which 
started  with  the  opening  of  spring,  1875,  continued  through  the 
summer  and  fall. 

The  year  was  one  of  great  depression  and  discouragement 
for  the  whole  of  Montana,  fully  half  the  male  population  of 
the  Territory  stampeding  to  the  Black  Hills,  drawn  thither  in 
crowds  by  the  reports  of  fabulously  rich  finds  made  in  that 
country.  While  some  of  our  Helena  people  appeared  to  pity 
the  Fathers  for  undertaking  the  erection  of  a  rather  large  and 
costly  building  in  such  unfavorable  times,  leading  non-Catholic 
men  of  the  town  would  point  to  the  massive  rising  walls  as  a 
sure  indication  that  "up  on  Catholic  Hill  there  was  faith  in 
Helena.  Why  should  not  the  rest  of  the  community  be  just 
as  hopeful  and  equally  confident?" 

By  the  latter  part  of  September  the  building  had  been  put 
under  roof  so  that  work  on  the  interior  could  be  continued 
through  the  winter  without  interruption.  The  new  church  was 
blessed  and  opened  for  service  on  April  9,  which  was  Palm 
Sunday,  1876.  Of  the  out-of-town  clergy  only  Father  F. 
Kelleher,  from  Virginia  City,  attended  the  ceremony. 


404        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

The  whole  cost  of  structure  and  furnishings  came  to 
$38,413.00,  over  one-third  of  the  amount  being  contributed  by 
non-Catholics.  The  figures  given  include  also  the  cost  of  the 
pipe  organ,  an  outlay  of  $1,235. 

The  pipe  organ  here  referred  to  was  the  first  instrument  of 
the  kind  brought  into  Montana,  and  while  we  allude  to  it  we 
are  reminded  of  a  trivial  incident  not  worth  retailing,  except 
for  its  being  a  striking  proof  that  truth  sometimes  is  stranger 
than  fiction. 

Some  few  months  after  the  instrument  had  been  set  up,  there 
arrived  in  Helena  a  musical  wonder,  such  at  least  according  to 
the  newspaper  notices  that  announced  his  coming.  He  claimed 
to  be  a  graduate  of  the  Leipsic  Conservatory  and  to  have  per- 
formed as  a  professional  organist  in  the  Cologne  Cathedral, 
the  Duomo  of  Milan,  and  other  celebrated  places  in  Europe 
Having  sought  an  introduction  through  Father  Venneman,  then 
our  companion  and  whom  he  had  met  in  the  street,  he  was 
invited  to  test  a  small  reed  organ  that  stood  in  the  parlor  and 
which  had  just  been  bought  for  the  new  church  in  the  Boulder 
Valley.  He  played  "Sweet  Bye-and-bye,"  seemingly  quite  at 
home.  He  was  requested  to  render  a  piece  of  two  well-known 
masters,  but  "he  had  not  with  him  his  repertoire,  and  to  play 
by  heart  was  unprofessional."  On  the  music  being  set  before 
him  "his  eyes  were  poor,  and  unfortunately  he  had  forgotten 
his  glasses."  Our  faith  in  his  ability  was  considerably  shaken 
by  this  time,  still  we  took  the  fellow  to  the  organ  loft,  and 
were  going  to  "pump"  and  fill  the  bellows  for  him  when  he 
dumfounded  us  by  asking:  "What  is  this  for?"  The  query 
was  about  the  pedal  of  the  keyboard!  !  !  The  musical  fraud 
went  bull-driving  the  next  day,  an  occupation  likely  more  suited 
to  his  talent. 

Some  four  years  after  he  had  left,  Father  Van  Gorp  returned 
to  Helena,  but  he  remained  only  a  few  months,  his  health  again 
failing.  Affected  with  valvular  trouble  of  the  heart,  the  physi- 
cians advised  a  lower  altitude.  He  was  therefore  sent  back  to 
St.  Ignatius,  a  place  much  to  his  liking  and  already  found  more 
suited  to  his  physical  condition,  and  there  he  labored  for  a  number 
of  years. 


SISTERS  AT  HELENA  405 

The  building  and  furnishing  of  the  new  church  had  cost  more 
than  had  been  expected.  But  whatever  indebtedness  was 
incurred  for  the  purpose  by  the  1st  of  January,  1883,  it  had 
been  canceled  to  the  last  cent.  And  it  may  be  well  to  put  here 
also  on  record  that  while  there  were  not  wanting  some  good 
people  who  found  fault  with  the  edifice  as  being  too  large  when 
under  construction,  so,  too,  the  same  type  of  individuals  found 
fault  now  because  the  Fathers  had  not  built  a  larger  church. 

The  old  frame  church  had  been  moved  out  of  the  way  some 
distance  back,  and  services  continued  to  be  held  therein  all  along 
till  the  opening  of  the  new  edifice  in  the  spring  of  1876.  It  was 
then  transformed  into  a  hall  and  class-room  for  boys,  and 
served  this  double  purpose  for  some  years,  that  is,  until  the 
ruthless  hand  of  progress  lay  hold  of  it  and  tore  it  down  to 
make  room  for  the  boys'  school  and  parish  hall  erected  in  1890 
by  Bishop  Brondel  at  a  cost  of  some  eighteen  thousand  dollars. 

Contemporaneously  with  the  building  of  the  new  church, 
improvements  were  also  made  in  St.  John's  Hospital,  which 
was  considerably  enlarged  by  Sister  Loretto,  and  also  at  the 
Sisters'  Academy,  where  a  large  frame  building,  40  by  100  feet, 
was  put  up  by  Mother  Vincent,  at  this  time  in  charge  of  the 
institution.  This  new  structure  was  intended  for  a  boys'  school 
and  an  exhibition  hall,  and  served  its  double  object  for  some 
years.  It,  too,  however,  fell  under  the  destroying  hand  of 
progress,  as  did  also  the  older  and  original  St.  Vincent's.  Those 
wooden  buildings  had  served  their  usefulness  and  now  were* 
done  away  with,  to  be  replaced  by  a  solid  stone  and  brick 
structure  no  less  substantial  than  up-to-date  in  all  appointments. 

In  November,  1874,  Father  C.  Imoda  was  assigned  to  reopen 
the  Mission  of  St.  Peter,  his  place  here  in  Helena  being  now 
taken  by  Father  J.  Menetrey,  who  from  his  first  arrival  took  up 
the  work  of  the  former,  namely,  the  charge  of  the  outlying 
stations,  as  the  special  field  of  his  labors. 

Though  reduced  by  the  coming  of  Father  F.  J.  Kelleher,  who 
the  year  before  had  taken  under  his  pastoral  care  Beaverhead 
and  Madison  Counties,  and  now  still  further  contracted  by  the 
reopening  of  St.  Peter's  Mission,  whence  the  settlers  in  Northern 
Montana  were  again  to  be  attended,  the  missionary  district  of 
Helena  still  remained  very  extensive.    It  included  the  Boulder 


406        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

and  Missouri  Valleys,  Crow  Creek,  Radesburg,  the  two  Gallatins, 
with  Three  Forks,  Bozeman  and  Fort  Ellis.  Camp  Baker,  called 
afterward  Fort  Logan,  Diamond  City,  as  well  as  White  Sulphur 
Springs,  were  also  visited  from  Helena.  These  were  the  farthest 
settlements  to  three  of  the  four  points  of  the  compass,  while 
within  a  shorter  radius  lay,  to  the  south,  Unionville,  Clancy, 
Jefferson  City  with  its  adjacent  mining  camps ;  to  the  northeast, 
Canyon  Ferry  and  Cave  Gulch,  and  lastly,  to  the  northwest, 
Silver  City,  with  the  mining  villages  above  it  and  in  the  sur- 
roundings of  what  is  known  today  as  Marysville.  Father 
Menetrey  visited  each  and  all  of  these  places  for  three  years, 
doing  everywhere  much  good  and  endearing  himself  to  all  classes 
of  people  by  his  genial  and  cheerful  ways. 

St.  Joseph's  Church,  a  neat  frame  structure  at  Canton  in  the 
Missouri  Valley,  was  built  through  his  endeavors  in  1875-76. 
In  a  farming  community  where  settlers  must  necessarily  live  far 
apart,  it  is  no  easy  task  to  pick  out  a  site  acceptable  to  all 
whereon  to  erect  a  church.  It  was  so  here,  the  farmers  being 
divided  and  much  at  variance  with  one  another  on  the  subject. 
But  finally  they  decided  the  matter  by  putting  it  to  a  vote,  and 
with  but  one  dissenting  voice,  agreed  on  the  present  location. 
The  ground  was  donated  partly  by  Michael  Driscoll,  now  a 
venerable  patriarch  of  the  valley,  and  partly  by  A.  Hash,  a 
non-Catholic.  The  people  forming  the  settlement  are  mostly 
Catholics,  very  industrious,  and  constitute  one  of  the  best  com- 
munities in  Montana. 

The  missionary  district  of  Helena,  as  described  above, 
remained  substantially  the  same  up  to  1881,  when  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railway,  heading  toward  Montana,  commenced  to  draw 
many  immigrants  into  the  Yellowstone  country,  who  took  up 
lands  and  settled  along  the  surveyed  course  of  the  road.  Several 
new  settlements  were  thus  formed  between  the  Dakota  line  and 
the  Gallatin  Range,  east  of  Bozeman. 

But  before  speaking  of  this  extension  of  the  field,  we  must 
retrace  our  steps  to  recount  some  previous  events,  that  is,  the 
first  Episcopal  Visitation  of  Montana  and  other  happenings  of 
interest  which  occurred  before  1881,  and  of  which  we  shall  treat 
in  the  next  chapter. 


Chapter  XVI. 

EPISCOPAL  VISITATION  OF  EASTERN   MONTANA. 
BATTLE  OF  BIG  HOLE. 

IT  WAS  shortly  after  his  appointment  to  the  Vicariate  Apos- 
tolic of  Nebraska,  to  which  the  eastern  part  of  Montana 
belonged,  that  the  Rt.  Rev.  James  O'Connor  signified  to  the 
missionaries  on  the  field  his  intention  of  making  an  early  visit 
to  this  distant  portion  of  the  Lord's  vineyard  that  had  been  com- 
mitted to  his  care. 

Accordingly,  in  the  latter  part  of  May,  1877,  he  set  out  from 
Omaha  on  his  long  apostolic  peregrination  and  after  visiting 
Virginia  City  and  some  of  its  dependencies,  where  he  admin- 
istered Confirmation  to  a  number  of  people,  he  directed  his  steps 
toward  Helena,  where  he  arrived  on  June  8  late  in  the  evening. 

Several  prominent  Catholics  had  gone  out  as  far  as  Montana 
City  to  meet  and  thence  escort  the  Prelate  into  town,  but  were 
disappointed.  Owing  to  the  exceedingly  bad  condition  of  the 
roads  the  coach  from  Virginia  City  on  which  the  Bishop  was 
expected  and  due  early  in  the  afternoon  did  not  arrive  till  about 
midnight.  His  Lordship  had  intimated  to  the  Fathers  in  Helena 
by  letter  that  he  wanted  no  public  demonstration  and  beyond 
doubt  the  lateness  and  quiet  of  his  arrival  must  have  more  than 
gratified  his  wish. 

The  succeeding  Sunday,  June  10,  at  the  late  Mass  he  confirmed 
145  persons,  several  adults  and  even  some  gray-haired  people 
being  in  the  number,  and  in  the  evening  he  lectured  to  one  of  the 
largest  audiences  that  ever  crowded  into  the  church  of  the 
Sacred  Hearts.  He  spent  the  week  in  Helena  and  at  a  reception 
tendered  him  by  Mr.  John  Blaine  and  his  wife  at  their  residence 
on  Rodney  Street,  a  large  number  of  people  called  to  pay  him 
their  respects  regardless  of  caste  or  creed. 

On  the  following  Saturday,  accompanied  by  Father  Menetrey, 
the  Bishop  went  to  the  Missouri  Valley,  where  on  the  next  day, 
June  17,  he  confirmed  45  people,  several  of  them  being  adults 


408        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

and  well  advanced  in  years.  H.  Rosenbaum,  now  deceased,  and 
his  estimable  wife  were  the  favored  hosts  of  the  Bishop  on  the 
occasion. 

Being  desirous  to  see  an  Indian  Mission  whilst  in  Montana,  he 
crossed  over  to  the  west  side  and  made  a  flying  trip  to  St. 
Ignatius.  We  had  the  honor  and  pleasure  of  being  in  his  com- 
pany in  that  excursion  and  heard  him  remark  a  couple  of  times 
on  our  way  back  to  Helena  that :  "a  visit  to  that  Indian  Mission 
was  well  worth  a  journey  from  Omaha  spite  the  unequal  churn- 
ing to  be  endured  in  a  Montana  coach  and  over  Montana  roads." 

The  Flat  Head  Indians  from  his  pen  and  published  in  the  III. 
Vol.  of  Records  of  the  American  Catholic  Historical  Society 
of  Philadelphia,  is  a  beautiful  and  charming  description  of  his 
visit  and  we  have  quoted  from  it  several  times  in  these  pages. 
But  we  must  add  here  a  circumstance  not  mentioned  by  his 
Lordship  and  yet  an  interesting  incident  of  what  was  to  him 
the  "ever  memorable  journey  to  the  pious  Flat  Heads  of  St. 
Ignatius."  The  coach  stopped  for  the  night  at  Bearmouth,  a 
station  between  Deer  Lodge  and  Missoula,  where  the  sleeping 
accommodations  at  the  time  were  of  the  poorest.  Still  the  man 
in  charge  made  an  effort  to  have  a  fairly  clean  bed  for  the 
Bishop.  Invited  to  share  the  same  bed  with  him,  we  declined 
respectfully.  We  lay  down  on  an  apology  for  a  couch  and  had  a 
good  refreshing  sleep.  But  we  were  indeed  surprised  in  the 
morning  when  someone  about  the  place  kindly,  though  rather 
witlessly,  informed  us  that  a  poor  fellow  had  died  of  the  small- 
pox in  those  quarters  and  on  that  very  couch  only  a  few  hours 
before  we  had  reached  the  station.  However,  neither  the  Bishop 
nor  the  writer  felt  any  the  worse  for  the  circumstance. 

The  evening  of  his  return  to  Helena  the  Bishop  delivered  a 
lecture  for  the  benefit  of  the  church  which  was  considerably  in 
debt  at  the  time.  The  next  day  he  was  called  upon  by  a  com- 
mittee of  gentlemen  of  the  congregation,  who  tendered  him  a 
purse  of  some  three  hundred  dollars  for  his  traveling  expenses. 
He  declined  the  offering  with  thanks,  remarking  at  the  same 
time  that  all  his  traveling  expenses  were  paid  already  and  sug- 
gested that  the  purse  made  up  for  him  might  well  be  turned  over 
to  lessening  the  debt  on  the  church. 

A  few  hours  later  an  ambulance,  placed  at  the  Bishop's  dis- 


EPISCOPAL  VISITATION  OF  EASTERN  MONTANA        409 

posal  by  an  old-time  friend  of  his,  General  John  Gibbon,  in 
command  at  Fort  Shaw,  drew  up  before  the  residence  and  his 
Lordship  now  left  Helena  to  visit  Northern  Montana,  which  also 
belonged  to  his  jurisdiction.  Going  first  to  Fort  Shaw  he  was 
the  guest  of  his  friends,  General  Gibbon  and  family,  for  a  couple 
of  days  and  gave  Confirmation  to  some  of  the  soldiers  and 
several  civilians.  He  then  proceeded  to  Fort  Benton,  confirming 
there  several  people  of  the  town  and  the  surroundings  and 
thence,  as  he  had  planned,  he  returned  to  Omaha  by  boat. 

The  impression  which  Bishop  O'Connor  left  on  the  people  of 
Montana,  Catholics  and  non-Catholics  alike,  was  very  favorable, 
his  visit  being  still  recalled  and  spoken  of  with  pleasure  by  all. 

But  no  less  favorable  and  no  less  lasting  appears  to  have  been 
the  impression  made  on  him  by  Montana  and  her  people.  In  a 
letter  to  the  writer,  dated  "Omaha,  March  31,  1879,"  the  Rt. 
Rev.  Bishop  expresses  himself  as  follows:  "You  and  I  may  not 
live  to  see  it,  but  the  day  is  not  distant  when  Montana  will  be  one 
of  the  most  fruitful  and  flourishing  as  well  as  the  most  beautiful 
portions  of  God's  vineyard;  and  this  will  be  owing  in  great 
measure  to  the  labors  and  virtues  of  those  who  have  already 
borne  there  the  burden  of  the  day  and  the  heats."  We  under- 
score some  of  his  words  because  of  the  quasi-prophetic  ring 
which  they  appear  to  carry. 

Of  the  people,  the  Bishop  has  this  to  say :  "It  may  be  that  I 
saw  only  the  bright  side  of  their  character,  but  certain  it  is,  I 
never  met  a  people  with  whom  I  was  better  pleased."  As  to 
Helena  people,  in  particular,  he  thus  concludes  his  Flat  Head 
Indians:  "The  third  day  brought  us  back  to  Helena,  where  we 
were  welcomed  by  the  most  hospitable  and  warm-hearted  people 
I  have  seen  in  the  far  west." 

And  no  doubt  that  the  Bishop  was  a  close  and  keen  observer 
of  both  persons  and  things,  as  can  be  seen  from  the  following. 
While  here  in  Helena,  two  young  ladies  called  to  pay  him  their 
respects.  After  they  had  left,  "I  surmise,"  said  he  to  the  writer, 
"that  the  two  young  lady  visitors  received  their  education  from 
some  of  our  Sisters,  their  whole  exterior,  composed,  refined, 
modest,  yet  frank  and  open,  has  left  on  me  that  impression,  and 
I  feel  certain  it  is  so."  So  it  was,  the  two  young  ladies  having 
received  their  education  at  St.  Vincent's  Academy,  this  city. 


410        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

The  favor  bestowed  on  Eastern  Montana  by  Bishop  O'Connor 
in  1877,  Archbishop  C.  J.  Seghers  conferred  on  Western  Mon- 
tana in  1879,  two  years  later,  and  again  in  1882.  But  we  must 
not  anticipate,  as  other  visitors,  far  different  from  them  of 
whom  it  is  written :  How  beautiful  upon  the  mountains  are  the 
feet  of  him  that  preacheth  peace  .  .  .  of  him  that  preacheth 
salvation,  call  first  for  our  attention.  The  visitors  of  whom  we 
must  now  speak  are  the  invading  Nez  Perces,  who,  breaking  into 
open  warfare  against  the  whites  in  Idaho,  were  at  this  date 
heading  toward  Montana,  causing  the  greatest  alarm. 

The  first  news  of  the  Indian  outbreak  in  Idaho  arrived  at  St. 
Ignatius  whilst  Bishop  O'Connor  was  visiting  that  Mission,  and 
came  direct  by  special  runners  sent  to  our  Indians  from  the 
lower  country.  The  Bishop  appeared  much  concerned  about  the 
disturbance,  and  made  particular  inquiries  to  ascertain  the  actual 
dispositions  of  the  Catholic  Indians,  fearing  much  that  they 
might  be  drawn  into  making  common  cause  with  the  Nez  Perces. 

He  saw  the  chiefs  and  other  leaders  of  the  tribe,  spoke  to 
them  words  of  peace,  and  directed  them  to  follow  in  everything 
the  counsels  and  advice  of  the  Fathers.  The  Indians,  on  their 
part,  assured  the  great  Black  Robe  that,  though  they  were  and 
always  had  been  on  friendly  terms  with  the  Nez  Perces  and  not 
a  few  were  related  to  them  by  blood,  none  of  their  own  people 
at  the  Mission  and  in  the  Bitter  Root  Valley  sympathized  with 
them  in  their  revolt  against  the  whites.  And  far  from  giving 
in  to  threats  or  coaxing,  as  they  had  already  intimated  to  the 
Nez  Perces,  they  were  ready,  if  things  came  to  that  pass,  to  take 
sides  and  fight  for  the  whites. 

The  Bishop  felt  much  relieved  by  these  assurances  of  loyalty 
on  the  part  of  the  Flat  Heads.  But  foreseeing  that  false  and 
exaggerated  reports  would  likely  be  sent  out  and  would  alarm 
the  country,  as  soon  as  he  reached  Missoula,  the  first  telegraph 
station  in  his  course,  he  sent  a  lengthy  dispatch  to  the  New 
York  Herald,  with  the  intention  of  forestalling  rumors. 

The  whole  country  knows  how  loyal  and  how  true  to  their 
word  the  Flat  Heads  proved  to  be,  and  we  need  not  repeat  the 
story.  But  it  is  well  to  put  on  record,  upon  the  authority  of 
Father  Cataldo,  that  with  the  exception  of  one  single  Catholic 
woman,  whom  Father  Cataldo  himself  had  instructed  and  bap- 


EPISCOPAL  VISITATION  OF  EASTERN  MONTANA        411 

tized  and  who  was  the  wife  of  one  of  Chief  Joseph's  men,  all 
the  others  in  the  rebel  band  were  pagan  Indians. 

Whilst  Chief  Joseph  with  his  following  was  heading  toward 
the  Bitter  Root  Valley,  U.  S.  soldiers  had  entrenched  them- 
selves at  the  mouth  of  the  Lolo  to  intercept  him.  On  nearing 
the  spot,  the  Nez  Perces  chief  sent  some  of  his  men  ahead  with 
the  request  that  they  should  be  allowed  to  pass  peaceably.  Upon 
being  refused,  he  outwitted  the  troops  by  cutting  across  the 
woods  higher  up,  detouring  unperceived  into  the  valley  near 
Victor.  He  now  continued  on  his  course  up  the  valley,  crossed 
over  to  the  Big  Hole  Basin,  entirely  unaware  that  General  Gib- 
bon with  his  command  was  pursuing  him.  The  Nez  Perces  were 
encamped  at  the  very  mouth  of  Trail  Creek,  when  they  were 
surprised  by  the  troops  who  had  stolen  upon  them  in  the  dark- 
ness of  the  night.  The  attack  was  made  at  break  of  day,  August 
9,  and  the  battle  that  ensued  proved  one  of  the  bloodiest  and 
most  desperate  in  the  annals  of  Indian  warfare,  though  the  com- 
batants on  either  side  were  comparatively  few. 

General  Gibbon's  force  consisted  of  146  regulars  and  34 
civilians,  all  told,  180  men,  and  two-thirds  of  them  were  killed 
or  wounded  in  the  encounter,  not  a  few  being  hit  several  times. 
Joseph  had  at  least  twice  as  many  warriors  on  his  side,  and  80 
of  them  were  buried  on  the  battlefield  by  the  troops.  According 
to  his  own  statement,  made  after  his  capture,  208  of  his  people 
had  either  been  killed  outright  or  had  died  soon  after  of  wounds 
received  in  the  fight.  We  heard  it  said  by  General  Gibbon  him- 
self and  several  others  of  his  command,  that  if  the  Indians  had 
followed  up  the  advantage  which  they  gained  in  the  beginning  of 
that  bloody  struggle,  his  whole  force  would  have  been  anni- 
hilated, just  as  the  year  previously  Custer's  command  had  been 
wiped  out  by  the  Sioux  on  the  Little  Horn. 

The  news  of  the  battle,  with  a  call  for  medical  and  other 
assistance,  reached  Helena,  Saturday,  August  11,  between  10 
and  11  A.  M.,  and  not  quite  an  hour  later,  two  Sisters  of  Charity, 
Benedicta  and  Mary  Liguori,  accompanied  by  the  writer,  were 
on  their  way  to  the  battlefield.  The  impromptu  Helena  Relief 
Committee  had  supplied  us  with  transportation,  and  Major  R.  C. 
Walker,  U.  S.  A.,  kindly  volunteered  to  be  our  escort.  Helena 
had  no  Mass  the  next  day,  Sunday,  Father  Menetrey,  the  other 


412        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

priest  attached  to  the  place,  being  then  on  duty  in  some  of  the 
outside  Missions. 

Our  little  relief  party  arrived  at  Deer  Lodge  in  the  evening 
rather  late.  We  said  Mass  there  early  the  next  morning,  and 
taking  along  Sister  Mary  Xavier  in  the  place  of  Sister  Benedicta, 
who  had  become  indisposed  during  the  night,  we  left  before 
the  dawn  of  day  for  French  Gulch,  and  reached  that  mining 
camp  between  i  and  2  o'clock  P.  M.  Parting  here  with  the 
Sisters,  who  were  directed  to  wait  there  for  further  instructions, 
the  writer  and  Major  Walker  continued  their  journey,  and  that 
evening  joined  the  corps  of  volunteers  who  were  encamped  on 
the  banks  of  the  Big  Hole  River,  some  fourteen  miles  this  side 
of  the  battlefield.  Here  we  met  two  Protestant  clergymen. 
They  were  also  members  of  the  relief  committee,  as  ministers  of 
religion,  but  they  carried  with  them  their  rifles  and  a  good  supply 
of  ammunition. 

After  eight  or  nine  miles'  march  early  next  morning,  word 
came  from  General  Gibbon  that  he  was  on  the  move  with  his 
command  and  the  wounded,  and  wished  the  relief  party  to  select 
a  convenient  camping  place,  where  his  men  would  arrive  in  a 
couple  of  hours  or  so. 

It  had  been  the  writer's  lot  to  see  the  horrors  of  war  on  a 
much  larger  scale  indeed.  On  June  24,  1859,  he  was  in  Verona, 
a  short  distance  from  Solferino,  where  on  that  day  some  twenty- 
seven  thousand  men  were  killed  or  wounded.  He  there  saw 
masses  of  torn  and  mangled  humanity,  the  memory  of  which 
nothing  can  ever  obliterate  from  his  mind.  But  then  the  hun- 
dreds and  thousands  of  wounded  had  there  also  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  kind,  willing  hands  and  sympathizing  hearts  to 
provide  them  with  shelter,  medical  assistance,  nursing,  and  other 
comforts,  thus  rendering  their  sufferings  less  terrible.  But 
here  in  the  wilderness,  amid  bleak  prairies  and  desolate  woods, 
a  hundred  and  more  miles  away  from  civilization,  the  poor 
sufferers,  albeit  comparatively  an  insignificant  number,  were  still 
far  too  many  to  be  attended  to  and  made  comfortable  by  their 
companions,  anxious  as  the  latter  were  to  help  them. 

The  relief  corps  was  pressed  into  willing  service,  a  halt  of 
some  four  hours  being  made,  that  the  sufferers  might  have  a 


EPISCOPAL  VISITATION  OF  EASTERN  MONTANA        413 

little  rest,  whilst  their  wounds  were  dressed  by  the  surgeons  and 
nurses. 

On  hearing  that  there  was  a  Sisters'  Hospital  at  Deer  Lodge, 
General  Gibbon  was  highly  pleased,  and  thereupon  gave  orders 
to  move  on,  that  his  wounded  men  might  be  in  the  hands  of  the 
Sisters.  We  went  ahead  to  give  notice  of  their  coming.  We 
reached  Warm  Springs  in  the  night  of  the  14th,  had  Mass  there 
early  the  next  day,  the  Feast  of  the  Assumption  of  Our  Blessed 
Lady,  and  thence  hastened  to  Deer  Lodge,  where  the  Sisters 
were  soon  hard  at  work  preparing  for  the  sufferers  who  were 
brought  in  the  following  day. 

It  had  been  impossible  for  several  days  to  dress  the  wounds 
properly  while  on  the  road,  and  in  doing  so  now,  they  were  found 
in  several  cases  literally  alive  with  maggots.  The  number  of 
Sisters  in  Deer  Lodge  being  insufficient  for  the  emergency,  other 
Sisters  came  over  from  Helena,  and  all  that  true  Christian  char- 
ity could  do  for  poor  suffering  fellow-beings  was  done  by  those 
worthy  daughters  of  St.  Vincent  for  the  wounded  of  the  Big 
Hole  battle. 

Before  dismissing  the  subject,  we  must  chronicle  a  singular 
incident  of  the  battle  which  we  learned  from  some  of  the  soldiers 
who  had  been  themselves  eye-witnesses  of  the  occurrence.  When 
the  troops  attacked  the  Nez  Perces  camp,  a  squaw  rushed  out  of 
a  tepee  and  fell  on  her  knees  in  front  of  a  group  of  soldiers  who 
were  pouring  volley  after  volley  into  the  lodges  or  tepees  behind 
her,  whence  the  Indians  were  returning  the  fire.  There  she 
remained  kneeling,  all  the  while  blessing  herself  with  the  sign 
of  the  Cross.  The  strange  conduct  of  the  woman  and  her 
remaining  untouched  by  the  storm  of  bullets  whizzing  round 
her  puzzled  the  soldiers.  One  of  the  officers  called  out  to  his 
men  in  these  or  similar  words :  "Boys,  do  not  hurt,  spare  that 
woman;  there  is  some  charm  about  her." 

We  know  that  the  incident  has  been  discredited  in  The  Nezu 
Northwest,  of  Deer  Lodge,  by  our  friend  Duncan  McDonnald, 
who,  after  the  capture  of  Joseph,  interviewed  some  of  the  Nez 
Perces  across  the  line.  Nevertheless  we  believe  the  incident, 
simply  because  the  testimony  of  eye-witnesses  is  not  offset  by 
hearsay.  We  further  observe,  first,  that  Duncan  McDonnald,  as 
can  be  gathered  from  his  own  account,  did  not  interview  all  the 


414        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

Nez  Perces  who  survived  the  Big  Hole  battle.  Secondly,  that 
those  Indians,  being  all  pagans,  as  we  stated  above,  were  not  and 
could  not  be  in  a  condition  to  notice  the  sign  of  the  Cross.  And, 
lastly,  that,  since  the  squaw  in  question,  as  is  made  clear  by  the 
details  of  the  occurrence,  knelt  facing  the  soldiers  and  with  her 
back  to  her  own  people,  she  could  easily  be  seen  bless  herself  by 
the  former,  but  not  by  the  latter.  Hence,  the  testimony  of  the 
soldiers  is  not  weakened,  much  less  destroyed,  by  any  contrary 
assertion. 

We  also  infer  that  the  woman  referred  to  must  have  been  the 
one  instructed  and  baptized  by  Father  Cataldo,  since  on  his  own 
declaration  there  were  no  Catholics  in  Joseph's  band,  except  one 
solitary  woman,  and  as  a  rule  Catholics  only  are  wont  to  bless 
themselves  with  the  sign  of  the  Cross.  All  of  which  would  seem 
to  indicate  that  the  subject  of  the  occurrence  could  be  no  other 
than  the  woman  spoken  of  by  Father  Cataldo. 

But  let  us  return  to  the  local  history  of  the  Helena  Mission 
and  relate  other  occurrences  of  this  period.  In  doing  so,  how- 
ever— as  noted  already  in  the  preface  to  this  second  edition — we 
would  have  the  kind  reader  bear  in  mind  that,  though  we  would 
have  preferred  to  suppress  ourselves  in  the  following  and  other 
incidents  recorded  in  these  pages,  we  could  not  do  it  without 
detracting  from  historical  accuracy,  since  it  fell  to  our  lot  to 
have  more  or  less  part  in  what  we  must  now  record  in  compli- 
ance with  the  wishes  of  our  Superiors.  Modesty  and  simple 
veracity  need  not  part  company :  they  are  sister  virtues  and  may 
therefore  rightly  go  hand-in-hand  in  one's  own  writings. 


Chapter  XVII. 

SOME    HANGINGS   AND  OTHER   INCIDENTS. 

IN  1875  the  even  course  of  routine  missionary  work  in  the 
Helena  district  was  broken  by  two  executions,  one  in  August, 
the  other  in  October. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  May,  Frank  Warl,  an  industrious, 
hard-working  man  and  a  Catholic,  was  found  murdered  at  his 
coal  pits  at  Ten  Mile.  It  soon  came  to  light  that  the  horrible 
deed  had  been  perpetrated  for  plunder  by  three  individuals  known 
about  town,  two  whites  and  a  black,  or,  more  properly,  a  mulatto. 
While  the  one  last  mentioned  and  another  of  the  trio  were  soon 
after  apprehended,  the  third  and,  from  every  indication,  the 
chief  criminal,  managed  to  escape.  Time  and  again  it  was  more 
than  hinted  that  he  could  not  have  evaded  capture  but  through 
the  help  of  a  secret  society  to  which  he  belonged,  and  whose 
members  were  able  to  see  him  safe  out  of  the  country.  True  or 
not,  we  cannot  say. 

His  two  accomplices  who  fell  into  the  clutches  of  the  law 
were  tried,  convicted  and  condemned  to  death.  Neither  was  a 
Catholic,  but  both  asked  for  a  priest,  and  the  writer  now  visited 
them  for  several  weeks,  to  instruct  them  as  well  as  to  prepare 
them  for  their  doom.  They  were  to  be  executed  on  the  same 
day,  August  13,  but  a  technical  flaw  discovered  at  the  very  last 
hour  in  the  trial  of  the  mulatto,  delayed  his  execution  till  the 
following  October.  Both  were  received  into  the  Church,  and 
died  apparently  in  the  best  dispositions  of  sincere  repentance. 

Two  other  executions  took  place  some  time  later  on,  one  at 
Radesburg,  in  March,  1880,  which  was  attended  by  Father  Guidi, 
and  the  other  in  Helena  in  February,  1881. 

The  criminal  in  the  latter  case  was  a  revolting  specimen  of 
humanity,  who  had  grown  up  in  the  woods,  more  like  an  animal 
than  a  human  being,  and  who  never  knew  what  restraint  of 
one's  passions  meant.  He  was  convicted  of  murdering  his  own 
employer,  one  J.  Tacke,  a  well-known  settler,  who  lived  only  a 


4i6        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

few  miles  from  town,  along  the  Bozeman  road.  When  attempt- 
ing to  run  away,  the  murderer  found  the  horse  he  tried  to  ride 
so  unmanageable  that  he  had  to  trade  him  off  at  Silver  City 
for  another  mount,  as  he  saw  no  other  chance  of  escape.  But 
this  very  transaction  furnished  the  clue  that  quickly  led  to  his 
capture.* 

Informed  by  the  sheriff  that  Tacke's  murderer  had  been  cap- 
tured and  was  locked  up  in  jail,  we  called  to  see  him  at  the  invi- 
tation of  the  same  official,  who  had  described  the  man  as  "a 
hard-looking  case."  We  found  him  all  that,  seemingly  stolid: 
stupid,  and  devoid  of  human  feelings.  We  visited  him  in  his 
cell  several  times  from  that  on,  and  for  the  first  two  weeks 
we  hardly  got  from  him  a  coherent  sound.  The  doctor  who 
examined  him  pronounced  the  prisoner  "a  wild  man."  How- 
ever, to  our  own  and  everybody  else's  surprise,  all  this  was 
changed,  and  seemingly  entirely  of  a  sudden. 

Here  is  the  story  as  told  by  himself  to  the  writer.  A  couple 
of  nights  before,  whilst  perfectly  awake,  he  saw  in  a  corner  of 
his  cell  the  strangest  kind  of  a  light,  which  struck  terror  into 
his  heart.  He  now  spoke  with  ease  and  intelligently,  instead  of 
giving  out  meaningless  grunts  as  before;  his  whole  appearance 
had  also  undergone  a  noticeable  change,  the  guards  themselves 
wondering  at  his  transformation.  He  was  instructed  and  given 
the  rites  of  the  Church,  and  persevered  to  the  last  in  the  best 
disposition,  meeting  his  death  with  entire  resignation,  not  to  say 
cheerfulness,  as  he  was  not  only  willing,  but  quite  glad  to  atone 
for  his  crime. 

A  few  days  before  his  execution  we  had  enrolled  him  in  the 
Brown  Scapular  of  Our  Lady.  The  physician  officially 
appointed  to  certify  to  the  man's  death,  on  the  body  being  low- 
ered for  him  to  examine  the  neck,  whether  it  had  been  broken 
in  the  drop,  noticed  the  strings  of  the  Scapular.  He  tugged 
at   them   and   brought   the    Scapulars   out,   which   he   held    for 

*  The  murder  was  committed  in  the  stable  where  the  horse  stood  in  his 
stall  at  the  time,  apparently,  not  wishing  to  carry  the  slayer  of  his  master ; 
the  animal  time  and  again  snapped  at  the  rider's  legs,  as  if  to  punish  him  and 
throw  him  off  his  back.  Hence,  as  told  by  the  unfortunate  wretch  himself, 
he  knelt  more  than  sat  on  the  horse  on  his  way  to  Silver  City,  and  as  the 
animal  would  not  move  for  him,  except  by  fits  and  starts  and  through 
continual  pounding,  he  did  not  get  to  the  place — no  more  than  eighteen  miles 
away — till  after  sunrise  the  next  morning. 


SOME  HANGINGS  AND  OTHER  INCIDENTS  417 

a  while  in  his  hands,  scanning  them  with  apparent  curiosity.  He 
now  turned  to  the  writer  and  asked  "what  that  thing  was  for." 
The  man,  though  considered  a  good  physician,  happened  to  be 
a  very  poor  Catholic.  But  even  so,  he  knew  well  enough  what 
Our  Lady's  Scapulars  were.  He  now  put  them  back  and,  in 
the  act  of  doing  so,  made  quite  audibly  the  sneering  remark, 
"checked  through."  The  ludicrous  side  of  the  cutting  sarcasm 
— as  if  there  had  been  question  of  a  mere  piece  of  baggage — 
made  the  writer  bite  his  lips  to  suppress  an  involuntary  smile, 
which  could  never  have  been  more  out  of  place.  But  then, 
instantly  also,  came  to  our  mind  the  thought  that  the  cynic,  like 
Caiaphas  of  old,  had  very  probably  said  much  more  than  he  had 
meant. 

Shortly  after  the  execution  wild  rumors  began  to  spread 
through  the  town  that  the  place  where  poor  Tacke  had  been 
murdered  had  become  haunted,  different  people  asserting  that 
they  had  seen  some  strange  light,  now  floating  around  and  over 
the  premises,  now  gliding  along  the  fence,  now  inside  the  house, 
now  in  the  stable  or  in  the  field  close  by.  The  strange  phenom- 
enon lasted  a  couple  of  months  and,  as  anyone  can  see  for  him- 
self by  reference  to  the  Helena  papers  of  that  date,  the  whole 
community  became  absorbed  in  the  apparition. 

The  writer  spoke  with  several  trustworthy  persons  who 
assured  him  that  they  themselves  with  their  own  eyes  had  seen 
the  mysterious  light,  not  once,  but  several  times,  and  that  there 
could  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  truth  of  the  thing,  whatever  its  cause. 
On  being  spoken  to,  and  asked  our  opinion  concerning  the  affair, 
without  ever  alluding  to  what  had  occurred  in  the  jail,  we  simply 
remarked  that,  most  likely,  some  shrewd  fellow  had  cast,  his 
eyes  on  the  ranch  of  the  murdered  man,  and  with  a  view  to  get 
it  cheap  by  frightening  off  other  competitors,  had  manufactured 
and  trotted  out  the  shining  ghost.  Then,  as  well  as  after,  many 
theories  were  advanced  to  clear  up  or  explain  the  thing  away, 
but  we  must  candidly  confess  that  the  strange  occurrence  has 
ever  been,  and  still  is  to  this  very  day,  an  unsolved  riddle  in  our 
mind.* 

*  The  murder  was  committed  by  the  light  of  an  ordinary  hand  lantern, 
and  when  the  man  first  spoke  to  us  of  the  frightful  glare  he  had  seen  in  his 
cell,  we  simply  thought  that,  being  as  he  was  under  sentence  of  death,  his 


418        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

Continuing  our  record — though  no  longer  of  hangings,  but  of 
other  incidents  of  the  period — the  following  may  well  appear  as 
much  out  of  the  usual  run  of  things  as  what  we  have  just  related. 

A  plasterer  by  trade,  who  would  occasionally  indulge  a  little 
too  much  in  drink,  and  a  chum  of  his,  a  bricklayer,  who  also 
suffered  from  the  same  weakness,  were  sleeping  in  the  same 
cabin.  Suddenly  our  friend,  the  plasterer,  began  to  scream  and 
plead  piteously  for  help,  as  if  somebody  had  hold  of  him  and 
were  trying  to  throttle  him.  This  woke  up  his  room-mate  who, 
after  inquiring  what  was  all  that  fuss  about,  bantered  him  con- 
siderably about  snakes,  dreams  and  nightmares,  though  neither 
of  the  two  had  tasted  any  liquor  for  several  days.  The  plasterer 
felt  as  if  he  had  passed  even  more  than  through  a  life  and  death 
struggle,  and  did  not  relish  the  joking.  On  the  contrary, 
addressing  his  chum  by  his  full  name  and  surname :  "I  have 
taken  my  last  drop,"  said  he  in  a  stern  and  serious  voice,  "come 
with  me  and  right  now  let  us  go  to  the  priest;  it  is  too  dreadful 
a  thing  to  fall  in  the  clutches  of  and  be  strangled  by  'Old  Nick!' 
More  bantering  was  the  reply. 

About  the  dawn  of  day  there  was  a  ring  at  the  Father's  door- 
bell, and  there  stood  our  friend  the  plasterer,  who  had  walked 
several  miles  and  who,  on  being  let  in,  said  to  the  writer 
abruptly :  "Father,  I  want  to  go  to  confession,  and  take  the 
pledge  for  life."  And  so  he  did;  becoming,  from  that  on,  a 
most  exemplary  Christian,  and  spending  the  rest  of  his  days  in 
rounding  up  and  bringing  topers  to  the  priest.  His  name  was 
Henry  Carroll. 

Another,  who  would  likewise  bring  topers  to  the  priest,  was 
Con  McHugh,  a  thing  the  more  remarkable  because  he  kept 
himself  a  liquor  store.  This  lamented  old-timer,  one  of  the 
most  charitable  and  kind-hearted  citizens  of  Montana,  at  the 
beginning  of  Lent,  1878,  heard  the  priest  suggest  from  the  altar 
that  abstinence  from  drink  through  that  penitential  and  holy 
season  would  be  the  proper  virtue  to  practise;  it  could  not  but 
please  God,  and  many  a  blessing  was  surely  in  store  for  all  who 
would  abstain  from  any  unnecessary  drink  through  the  whole 

imagination  had  worked  the  faint  flickerings  of  the  hand  lantern  into  the 
huge  light  that  frightened  him  so  much.  He  saw  the  same  glare  two  days 
before  his  execution,  and  the  poor  wretch  trembled  as  a  leaf  while  speak- 
ing of  it. 


SOME  HANGINGS  AND  OTHER  INCIDENTS  419 

of  Lent.  He  there  and  then  resolved  to  follow  the  priest's 
advice  and  be  a  total  abstainer  the  whole  Lenten  season.  Owing 
to  some  peculiarity  of  his  constitution,  he  was  now  told  by  his 
physician  that  if  he  kept  his  pledge  it  would  doubtlessly  cost 
him  his  life  before  the  end  of  Lent.  "It  does  not  matter,"  he 
said  to  the  doctor,  "I  will  stand  by  my  resolution."  Taken  sick 
some  ten  days  after,  he  passed  away  about  mid-Lent. 

Finley  McCrea  is  a  name  still  familiar  to  many  Helena  people 
as  well  as  to  others  who  mined  in  the  surrounding  camps.  The 
piety  of  that  sturdy  old-timer  was  indeed  remarkably  fervent, 
no  less  than  solid.  Week  after  week  for  several  summers  he 
walked  the  distance  of  something  over  forty  miles  to  hear  Mass 
on  Sunday.  He  mined  in  Cave  Gulch,  some  twenty-two  miles 
from  town,  and  leaving  there  on  foot  Saturday  afternoons  he 
would  reach  the  church  Sunday  mornings,  go  to  confession, 
receive  Holy  Communion,  assist  at  the  late  Mass,  and  after 
partaking  of  some  refreshment  with  the  Fathers,  he  would  set 
out  again  for  Cave  Gulch  and  be  promptly  at  his  post  Monday 
morning. 

Cast  in  the  same  mould  seems  to  have  been  a  nephew,  as  well 
as  a  namesake  of  his,  a  younger  Finley  McCrea.  He  had  a  placer 
claim  some  three  miles  southeast  of  Helena,  which  he  owned 
jointly  with  a  partner.  Pressed  by  the  latter  to  work  on  the 
Feast  of  the  Assumption,  though  fully  justified  because  of  their 
scant  supply  of  water,  he  bluntly  told  his  partner  that  ''there 
was  not  gold  enough  in  the  country  to  induce  him  to  do  any 
unnecessary  labor  on  a  feastday  of  obligation;"  and  throwing 
down  his  shovel,  came  to  town  to  go  to  confession  for  the  Feast. 

It  was  here  in  Helena  where  the  tiny  slips  called  May  Blos- 
soms or  Spiritual  Flowerets  were  first  introduced,  to  honor  Our 
Blessed  Lady  during  her  May  Devotions;  and  those  little  read- 
ings have  proved  the  cause  or  occasion  of  many  an  incident  no 
less  interesting  than  edifying. 

To  those  just  related  we  could  well  add  not  a  few  other 
incidents.  But  we  must  forego  doing  so,  to  proceed  with  our 
work. 

Father  Menetrey  left  Helena  in  November,  1877,  and  those 
who  came  to  labor  on  this  field  after  him  were  Fathers  J.  Guidi, 
J.  G.  Venneman,  P.  Barcelo,  and  for  a  couple  of  months  also 


420       CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

H.  J.  Camp.  Father  Guidi  was  attached  to  the  Helena  Mission 
from  November,  1877,  to  the  fall  of  1880,  and  again  at  a  later 
date,  as  we  shall  see  further  on. 

Father  J.  G.  Venneman  arrived  in  the  spring  of  1880,  and 
remained  until  August,  1882.  In  1881  he  built  the  Boulder 
Valley  church,  named  after  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  and  was 
the  first  priest  who  from  Helena  visited  Miles  City,  being  sent 
thither  at  the  request  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  O'Connor.  Father 
Barcelo  arrived  in  Helena  in  the  month  of  September,  1880,  and 
remained,  more  or  less  permanently,  in  the  place  several  years. 

We  bring  this  chapter  of  incidents  to  a  close  by  recording  a 
last  occurrence  which,  while  perhaps  new,  is  likely  to  prove 
interesting. 

At  the  time  of  our  history  there  lived  in  Helena  with  their 
families  some  near  relatives  of  James  G.  Blaine,  one  being  John 
Blaine,  his  brother,  and  the  other  Blaine's  sister,  Elisabeth,  mar- 
ried to  Major  Robert  C.  Walker,  U.  S.  A.  Elisabeth  was  much 
devoted  to  her  brother  James,  and  he  in  turn  cherished  a  special 
fondness  for  her.  On  his  being  discussed  as  a  probable  candi- 
date for  the  Presidency,  she  felt  uncommonly  worried  lest  some 
serious  mishap  should  overtake  him.  She  laid  her  fears  open  to 
him  one  day  by  letter,  and  asked  him  whether  he  would  not 
accept  and  carry  on  his  person  a  medal  of  Our  Lady,  which  she 
would  send  him  from  Montana.  On  his  answering  that  he 
would  gladly  do  so,  Elisabeth  sent  him  a  tiny  gold  medal, 
blessed  at  her  own  request,  and  acknowledged  by  the  recipient 
with  expressions  of  thankfulness.  The  writer  speaks  whereof 
he  knows,  every  particular  having  been  confided  to  him  by  Mrs. 
Walker  herself. 

A  couple  of  years  or  so  after,  while  on  his  way  to  a  Protestant 
church  one  Sunday  morning  in  the  summer,  James  G.  Blaine, 
overcome  by  the  heat,  fell  prostrated  and  unconscious  at  the 
entrance  of  the  edifice.  Friends  were  soon  bending  over  him, 
doing  all  they  could  to  revive  him ;  whilst  loosening  his  garments 
over  his  breast  and  around  the  neck,  there  was  exposed  to  view 
a  tiny  gold  charm  hanging  from  a  little  cord  on  his  neck: 
There  is  no  accounting  for  the  idiosyncrasies  of  great  men, 
whispered  in  surprise  one  of  the  group,  as  he  pointed  to  the 
thing  with  a  nod  of  the  head.     The  charm  on  Blaine's  neck  was 


SOME  HANGINGS  AND  OTHER  INCIDENTS 


421 


the  little  medal  which  his  sister  had  sent  him  from  Montana. 
The  order  of  things,  as  well  as  gratefulness,  bid  us  turn  our 
eyes  toward  His  Grace,  the  Most  Rev.  Archbishop  Charles  J. 
Seghers.  True,  we  have  referred  to  him  already  several  times 
in  connection  with  our  subject,  but  only  incidentally;  whereas 
the  prominent  part  he  took  in  promoting  Catholicity  in  Mon- 
tana entitles  him  indeed  to  something  more  than  an  incidental 
reference  here  and  there. 


Chapter  XVIII. 

ARCHBISHOP  CHARLES  JOHN  SEGHERS  AND  MONTANA. 

SOMETIME  after  his  appointment  as  Coadjutor  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Oregon — who  at  this  date  was  likewise  the 
Administrator  of  the  Vicariate  of  Idaho,  which  comprised  also 
Western  Montana — Archbishop  Seghers  set  out  to  visit  the 
whole  of  that  Vicariate,  and  came  into  our  territory  first  in 
1879,  ar|d  again  in  1882.  Both  times  His  Grace  went  from 
one  settlement  to  another  and  through  every  mining  village, 
administering  the  sacrament  of  Confirmation  to  quite  a  number 
of  people,  adjusting  religious  matters  and  looking  into  the  spir- 
itual wants  of  every  place. 

Authorized  by  the  Vicar  Apostolic  of  Nebraska  under  whose 
jurisdiction  lay  the  Vicariate  of  Montana,  that  is  to  say,  the 
eastern  part  of  our  territory  (see  Ecclesiastical  Organization  of 
Montana,  above,  Chapter  II)  he  honored  Helena  with  his  pres- 
ence, and  confirmed,  September  21,  thirty-eight  persons  in  the 
Church  of  the  Sacred  Hearts.  In  the  evening  he  delivered  a 
lecture  on  education,  which  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  whole 
community. 

Archbishop  Seghers  was  no  less  favorably  impressed  with 
Montana  and  her  people  than  had  been  Bishop  O'Connor,  and 
this  favorable  impression,  resting  on  his  personal  observations 
through  several  months,  made  him  conceive  a  great  interest  in 
the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  country.  He  espoused  Montana's 
cause  before  the  Holy  See,  and  by  his  representations  and 
advocacy,  the  whole  territory  was  first  united  into  one  Vicariate, 
and  then,  just  one  year  later,  made  into  an  Episcopal  See. 

The  untimely  and  tragic  death  of  this  apostolic  Prelate  is 
still  fresh  in  every  mind.  Burning  with  zeal  for  the  conversion 
of  the  Indians  of  Alaska,  he  resigned  the  Archiepiscopal  See  of 
Oregon  to  return  to  his  former  Diocese  of  Vancouver  Island. 
"Adieu,  dear  Bishop,"  wrote  he  on  July  6  to  his  friend,  Bishop 
Brondel,  "I  leave  for  Alaska,  and  God  knows  when,  and  whether 


ARCHBISHOP  SEGHERS  AND  MONTANA  423 

I  shall  ever  return.  Pray  for  me."  On  the  13th  of  the  same 
month  he  set  out  for  that  frozen  country,  and  while  in  his  tent, 
some  sixty  miles  from  all  habitation,  the  nearest  point  being 
Nulato,  about  6  o'clock  a.  m.,  November  28,  he  was  murdered 
by  his  attendant. 

The  Archbishop  was  sleeping  between  two  Indian  guides  on 
the  one  side,  and  his  white  attendant,  one  Fuller,  on  the  other. 
The  murderous  wretch,  who  had  appeared  very  restless  during 
the  night,  and  had  been  asked  by  His  Grace  why  he  did  not  go 
to  sleep,  got  up  early  that  morning  to  rekindle  the  fire.  Shortly 
after  he  went  out,  took  the  gun  from  the  sleigh  and  returned. 
He  now  roused  his  victim,  who  woke  up  only  to  see  the  flash 
of  the  gun,  which  the  assassin  held  pointed  at  him.  The  very 
same  instant  the  doomed  Prelate  crossed  his  arms  over  his  breast 
and  lifted  his  eyes  heavenward.  Though  shot  close  to  the  heart, 
he  remained  in  the  sitting  position  which  he  had  taken  on  waking, 
a  few  seconds,  just  long  enough  for  the  murderer  to  think  him 
still  alive,  and  to  attempt  to  fire  a  second  time.  Upon  this,  the 
two  Indians  sprang  upon  the  assassin  to  disarm  him,  and  the 
Archbishop  fell  over. 

All  this  took  place  very  quickly;  the  two  Indian  guides  who 
were  eye-witnesses  of  the  tragedy  saw  it  finished  before  they 
realized  what  was  occurring.* 

The  body  of  the  murdered  Prelate  was  arranged  by  the  two 
Indians  and  brought  by  them  to  Fort  St.  Michael,  where  July 
16,  1887,  it  was  temporarily  buried.  The  remains  were  disin- 
terred September  11,  1888,  and  taken  on  board  the  U.  S.  war- 
ship Thetis,  in  charge  of  Lieut.  Commander  Emory,  who  con- 
veyed them  to  Victoria,  Vancouver  Island. 

An  inquest  held  over  the  body  by  two  physicians  of  the  place 
revealed  that  death  had  been  caused  by  a  bullet  wound  over  the 
left  breast,  cutting  the  main  artery  a  little  above  the  heart.  On 
November  16,  after  most  impressive  obsequies,  at  which  Bishop 
Brondel,  of  Helena,  Montana,  delivered  a  most  touching  funeral 
oration,  the  body  of  the  martyr  Archbishop  was  consigned  to 
its  permanent  resting  place,  prepared  to  receive  it  in  a  vault 
beneath  the  Cathedral. 

*  These  particulars  are  from  the  lips  of  Father  P.  Tosi,  S.  J.,  the  Superior 
of  the  Alaska  Mission. 


424        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

The  lamented  Prelate  was  last  seen  in  Helena  in  March,  1885, 
when  after  an  extended  journey  through  Europe,  he  was  return- 
ing to  his  See  of  Victoria,  to  which  he  had  been  reappointed  at 
his  own  request.  He  was  then  the  guest  of  his  friend,  Bishop 
Brondel,  for  a  few  days,  and  celebrated  Pontifical  High  Mass 
in  the  Cathedral,  March  19,  the  Feast  of  St.  Joseph.  In  the 
evening,  clad  as  an  Alaskan,  he  appeared  in  the  same  Cathedral 
before  a  large  audience  and  pleaded  in  a  very  interesting  lec- 
ture the  cause  of  his  favorite  Mission  of  Alaska,  which  he  was 
preparing  to  revisit  and  for  which  a  year  later  he  was  to  lay  down 
his  life. 

With  this  tribute  of  respect  and  gratefulness  paid  to  his  mem- 
ory, let  us  now  proceed  and  speak  of  the  church  in  Montana  as 
organized  through  his  endeavors.  We  shall  introduce  the  chief 
Pastor  with  whose  appointment  the  organization  was  perfected 
and  formally  inaugurated. 


The  Right  Rev.  John  Baptist  Brondel,  D.D. 

FIRST   BISHOP   OF    MONTANA 


The  Most  Rev.  Charles  Seghers,  D.D. 

MARTYRED    ARCHBISHOP    OF    ALASKA 


Chapter  XIX. 

THE    RT.    REV.    JOHN    BAPTIST    BRONDEL.       MONTANA'S 
VICARIATE  INAUGURATED. 

JOHN  BAPTIST  BRONDEL,  the  first  resident  Adminis- 
trator of  our  new  Vicariate,  and  the  first  Bishop  of  Helena, 
was  born  in  old,  quaint  and  thoroughly  Catholic  Bruges,  West 
Flanders,  Belgium,  February  23,  1842,  and  received  his  first 
instruction  from  the  Xaverian  Brothers,  a  Community  that  had 
been  recently  established  in  his  native  city.  After  ten  years  given 
to  his  Latin  courses,  in  the  College  of  St.  Louis,  having  chosen 
to  devote  himself  to  the  Missions  in  North  America,  he  entered 
the  American  College  at  Louvain.  He  was  raised  to  the  priest- 
hood at  Mechlin  by  His  Eminence  Cardinal  Stercks,  December 
17,  1864,  and  having  been  received  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  A.  M.  A. 
Blanchet  for  the  Diocese  of  Nesqually,  Washington,  he  set  out 
for  his  destination  by  the  way  of  Panama,  reaching  Vancouver 
on  All  Hallow's  Eve,  1866. 

The  duties  of  professor  together  with  those  of  a  missioner 
occupied  him  for  some  time,  after  which  he  was  assigned  to 
Steilicom,  on  Puget  Sound,  where  he  spent  some  ten  years,  and 
whither  he  returned  from  Walla  Walla,  having  done  missionary 
work  there  also  for  a  while.  During  his  pastorship  at  Steilicom, 
he  built  churches  at  Olympia  and  Tacoma.  Whilst  attending 
with  great  zeal  to  his  priestly  ministry  on  the  Sound,  he  was 
elected  Bishop  of  Victoria,  Vancouver  Island,  and  received  his 
consecration  at  the  hands  of  the  Most  Rev.  C.  J.  Seghers,  Decem- 
ber 14,  1879. 

Some  four  years  later,  April  7,  1883,  the  Holy  See  appointed 
him  Administrator  of  the  Vicariate  of  Montana,  where  he  was 
now  to  reside,  although  retaining  at  the  same  time  his  title  of 
Bishop  of  Vancouver  or  Victoria.  This  action  of  the  Holy 
See  formally  organized  the  Vicariate,  and  the  organization  was 
inaugurated  by  the  Administrator's  arrival  upon  the  field. 

We  shall  soon  greet  and  welcome  our  chief  Pastor.     In  the 


426        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

meantime,  as  we  wait  for  him  to  come,  let  us  chronicle  some 
happenings  which,  whilst  they  belong  to  the  local  history  of 
the  Helena  Mission,  also  preceded  by  a  few  months  his  arrival 
in  our  midst. 

In  1883  Easter  Sunday  fell  on  the  25th  of  March,  and  was 
an  ideal,  perfect  spring  day,  in  keeping  with,  and  enhancing  the 
joys  of  the  great  festival.  There  being  no  Sunday  School,  early 
in  the  afternoon  the  writer  crossed  over  for  a  short  while  to 
the  Academy  grounds,  where  the  young  lady  pupils  were  recre- 
ating. It  was  all  sunshine  externally  as  well  as  inwardly,  and 
everybody  appeared  filled  to  overflowing  with  the  brightness  and 
joyousness  of  the  day.  However,  a  pungent  odor  seemed  to  be 
in  the  air,  becoming  more  perceptible  as  one  moved  toward  the 
reservoir  that  stood  within  the  premises  to  the  south. 

The  reservoir  had  been  placed  there  some  years  before  by  the 
city,  as  a  measure  of  precaution  in  case  of  fire,  and  had  passed 
to  the  Sisters  with  the  grounds  purchased  by  Father  Van  Gorp. 
In  the  transaction,  however,  the  continuance  of  its  use  by  the 
city  had  been  reserved,  but,  in  turn,  the  city  had  to  see  to  its 
maintenance,  that  is,  provide  the  water,  and  make  all  needed 
repairs.  For  over  a  year  the  city  authorities  and  the  water 
company  had  been  at  loggerheads  on  the  subject  of  refilling  the 
reservoir  and  keeping  it  in  a  proper  condition.  As  a  conse- 
quence, not  having  been  renewed  for  so  long  a  time,  the  water 
had  become  exceeding  foul.  To  aggravate  matters,  a  neighbor, 
the  west  side  of  whose  dwelling  stood  but  ten  feet  from  the 
east  edge  of  the  reservoir,  had  secretly  made  this  the  cesspool 
of  his  premises  for  a  couple  of  years. 

That  Easter  Sunday  night  several  of  the  Academy  pupils 
were  taken  ill.  The  disease  was  dread  diphtheria,  and  by  the 
third  day  St.  Vincent's  Academy  had  actually  become  a 
hospital. 

To  cut  the  sad  story  short,  seven  youthful  lives  were  quenched 
in  a  few  days,  that  is,  from  April  23  to  May  7,  and  two  more 
some  few  days  after.  The  contagion  spread,  the  Scannell  family 
becoming  the  greatest  sufferers,  four  or  five  children  being  car- 
ried off  by  the  scourge  within  a  week. 

Mae,  the  eldest  of  the  five  and  the  only  survivor,  would  seem 
to  owe  her  safety  to  an  act  of  apparent  heartlessness  on  the 


BISHOP  BRONDEL  427 

part  of  the  writer.  She  was  visiting  with  some  friends  out  of 
town  and  started  home  at  once  on  hearing  that  there  was  sick- 
ness in  the  family.  We  were  assisting  the  dying  within — there 
were  three  in  the  throes  of  death — and  had  just  left  their  side 
to  get  a  mouthful  of  fresh  air  at  the  front  door,  when  Mae 
happened  to  be  nearing  the  house.  Hailing  her  from  where  we 
stood,  we  bade  her  go  to  some  of  her  friends,  as  under  no  con- 
dition could  she  be  allowed  to  enter  the  premises.  She  begged, 
entreated  to  be  let  in,  her  eyes  streaming  with  tears.  However, 
most  reluctantly  the  brave  young  woman  did  as  bidden,  and 
withdrew  with  faltering  steps.  She  is  today  Mrs.  James  Walker, 
having  married  Robert  C.  Walker's  son,  James,  a  nephew  of 
James  G.  Blaine. 

Michael  Scannell,  one  of  the  four  whom  God  hastened  to 
gather  to  Himself,  was  the  brightest  lad  we  had  ever  known. 
A  year  or  so  before — he  was  then  a  little  mite  between  eight 
and  nine — being  asked  in  Sunday  School  whether  anything  could 
make  itself,  he  became  thoughtful.  "No,  Father,  a  thing  can- 
not make  itself."  On  being  further  asked  why  a  thing  could 
not  make  itself :  "Because  it  ain't  yet,"  he  replied ;  expressing 
thus  concisely  and  most  tersely  the  philosophical  axiom:  Prius 
est  esse  quam  operari;  in  other  words,  a  thing  must  be  before 
it  can  work. 

Aged  from  grief  and  sorrowing,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Scannell  are 
still  mourning  the  loss  of  their  children.  But  they  do  so  in 
humble  submission  to  Him  who  killcth  and  maketh  alive,  and 
comforted  in  their  bereavement  by  true  Christian  faith. 

A  protest  was  made  by  the  town  folk  against  the  pesthole  on 
the  hill,  and  the  nuisance  was  partly  abated  by  dumping  into  it 
several  wagon  loads  of  quicklime.  Soon  after,  however,  it  was 
condemned  and  filled  up. 

Somewhat  unstrung  by  the  happenings  just  related,  the  writer 
felt  the  need  of  a  little  toning  up  by  a  short  relaxation.  Further, 
the  new  Administrator  being  expected  to  arrive  ere  long,  it 
seemed  desirable  to  have  at  hand  such  information  about  the 
different  places  of  the  Vicariate  as  would  be  of  usefulness  to 
him  on  his  arrival.  We  therefore  resolved  to  visit  that  spring 
the  northern  and  eastern  parts  of  the  territory  with  which  we 
were  less  familiar.     Accordingly,  leaving  Helena  about  the  mid- 


428        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

die  of  May,  the  writer  visited  Sun  River,  St.  Peter's  Mission 
and  Fort  Benton;  and  thence  by  boat  went  as  far  as  Bismark. 
He  now  retraced  his  steps  toward  Montana,  visiting  on  his 
homeward  journey  all  the  new  settlements  along  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railway,  Glendive,  Miles  City,  Billings,  Livingston,  and 
also  Bozeman.  He  stopped  some  days  in  each  of  these  places, 
where  he  said  Mass,  heard  some  confessions  and  instructed  a 
few  children.  About  the  middle  of  July  he  took  the  home 
stretch  from  Bozeman,  partly  by  coach  and  partly  by  rail,  on  a 
construction  train. 

It  was  the  first  railroad  train  with  a  passenger  coach  to  come 
near  Helena,  and  the  occasion  had  brought  half  the  town  to  that 
terminal  spot.  Good  Brother  Megazzini  had  come  there,  too, 
with  a  vehicle,  to  meet  the  rambler.  As  the  cars  were  an  hour 
or  so  behind  the  time  announced,  the  Brother  tied  the  horse  to  a 
wagon,  there  being  no  fence  or  post  of  any  sort  in  the  vicinity, 
and  walked  over  to  inspect  the  track  and  watch  the  incoming 
cars.  At  the  approach  of  the  locomotive  the  old  plug  became 
quite  lively,  and  before  the  Brother  could  reach  him,  broke 
loose  and  ran  off,  demolishing  the  whole  rig  in  his  mad  run. 

Upon  this,  a  personal  friend,  who,  by  the  way,  was  the  sheriff, 
kindly  invited  us  to  ride  uptown  in  his  own  conveyance,  and 
gave  us  the  place  of  honor  on  the  front  seat  beside  himself  and 
a  deputy  of  his,  the  writer  sitting  between  the  two.  This  proved 
the  occasion  of  a  grim  joke,  for  the  papers  announcing  our 
return  stated  also  the  circumstance  that  the  sheriff  and  a  deputy 
had  brought  the  Father  back  to  town,  which,  after  all,  was 
nothing  but  the  truth. 


Chapter  XX. 

THE  DIOCESE  OF   HELENA. 

TT  ELENA  heard  that  summer  for  the  first  time  the  whistle  of 
-*--*-  the  locomotive,  and  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  Company 
that  had  struggled  for  many  a  year  to  accomplish  the  gigantic 
work,  finally  spiked  the  last  nail  of  the  steel  highway  which 
brought  Montana  in  closer  contact  with  the  outside  world, 
east  and  west.  No  doubt,  it  was  an  event  of  the  greatest 
importance,  of  far-reaching  consequences  for  the  development 
of  the  country. 

But  from  the  viewpoint  of  religion,  morality,  and  the  spiritual 
welfare  of  the  whole  community,  no  less  important  was  the 
arrival  in  our  midst  of  the  Mitred  Envoy  graciously  vouchsafed 
Montana  by  Leo  XIII,  our  Lord's  Vicar  on  earth.  The  Rt. 
Rev.  Administrator  arrived  on  his  new  field  early  in  the  summer 
and  began  his  apostolic  labors  by  first  visiting  the  western  part 
of  the  Vicariate. 

His  Grace  Archbishop  Seghers  by  letter  had  urged  Bishop 
Brondel  to  leave  Vancouver  Island  and  hasten  to  Montana,  in 
imitation  of  the  Blessed  Mother  of  God,  of  whom  it  is  written 
in  the  Gospel  that  she  went  into  the  hill  country  zuith  haste;* 
hill  country  being  rendered  in  Latin  by  the  word  montana. 
Bishop  Brondel  did  so,  and,  as  a  coincidence,  received  the  Bulls 
of  his  appointment  at  Butte,  July  2,  the  Feast  of  the  Visitation 
of  Our  Lady,  the  very  day  on  which  Holy  Church  honors  the 
mystery  to  which  the  words  quoted  by  Archbishop  Seghers 
referred. 

But  yet,  "hasten  slowly"  is  the  best  and  wisest  course  to  fol- 
low, as  a  general  rule.  His  Eminence  Cardinal  Simeoni,  Prefect 
of  Propaganda,  using  the  same  words  with  regard  to  the  matter 
in  question,  remarked  to  Dr.  Shultz,  Pro-Rector  of  the 
American  College,  Rome :  Administrator  Montanensis  abiit  in 
Montana  cum  festinatione.     His  Eminence  alluded  thus  to  the 

*  Luke  i :  39. 


430        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

fact  that  the  new  Administrator  had  gone  to  Montana  before 
having  in  his  actual  possession  the  Bulls  of  his  appointment, 
an  oversight  unintentional,  beyond  doubt,  yet  serious  enough 
to  call  forth  the  animadversion.  However,  any  and  all  irregu- 
larities that  might  have  attended  the  innocent  oversight  were 
soon  remedied  by  the  Holy  See. 

Having  visited  the  western  part  of  the  Vicariate,  the  Rt. 
Rev.  Bishop  came  over  to  the  east  side  of  the  mountains  and 
took  up  the  visitation  of  the  rest  of  Montana. 

Besides  administering  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  his  flock, 
his  Lordship  had  also  another  object  in  view  in  his  first  visit 
of  the  Vicariate,  and  this  was  to  select,  after  seeing  the  country, 
the  place  best  suited  for  his  permanent  residence.  As  Helena 
was  doubtlessly  the  most  favorable  location,  the  Jesuit  Fathers, 
who  had  been  the  first  and  only  priests  there  since  the  com- 
munity had  come  into  existence,  offered  to  withdraw  and  turn 
over  to  the  new  Administrator  church,  premises  and  whatever 
property  rights  they  had  acquired  on  Catholic  Hill.  While  by 
this  timely  and  most  commendable  disposition  on  their  part, 
they  facilitated  and  hastened  the  erection  of  the  new  Bishopric, 
they  were  thus  instrumental  in  Helena  becoming  an  Episcopal 
See  as  well  as  the  name  of  the  new  Diocese.  This  is  made  clear 
in  the  Bulls  of  erection,  wherein  Leo  XIII  alludes  to  the 
matter  by  the  following  words :  Conventione  facta  cum  Sodali- 
bus  Societatis  Jesu,  etc. 

The  property  was  conveyed  to  his  Lordship  by  Father  J.  M. 
Cataldo  on  the  authority  of  the  Father  General  of  the  Society. 
Being  shown  the  draft  of  the  conveyance  by  the  same  Cataldo, 
the  writer,  who  was  connected  with  Helena  at  the  time,  sug- 
gested that  there  be  inserted  in  the  agreement  the  restoration 
of  the  church  of  Missoula  to  the  Society.  The  grounds  of  the 
suggestion  appealed  to  the  Superior,  and  a  clause  to  that  effect 
having  been  added,  Bishop  Brondel,  as  well  as  Father  Cataldo, 
and  also  the  writer  appended  their  signatures  to  the  conveyance. 

The  paper,  however,  had  not  been  drawn  up  in  the  technical 
phraseology  of  the  law,  nor  in  the  strict  form  usually  followed 
in  similar  transactions.  It  was  therefore  replaced,  at  the 
Bishop's  own  request,  by  another  which  carried  the  date  May  I, 
1884,  and  the  signatures:  J.  B.  Brondel,  Jos.  M.  Cataldo,  S.  J.; 


THE  DIOCESE  OF  HELENA  43i 

C.   Imoda,   S.   J.,   and  Joseph   Guidi,    S.   J.      From  this  latter 
document  we  copy  the  following  as  pertinent  to  our  subject: 

The  party  of  the  first  part  (that  is,  J.  B.  Brondel)  gives  to  Jos. 
M.  Cataldo,  S.  J.,  the  party  of  the  second  part,  the  right,  possession 
and  deed  of  all  the  property  of  the  white  Mission  in  Missoula,  with 
all  future  improvements,  to  be  henceforth  the  property  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus,  in  consideration  of  the  property  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  in 
Helena,  Montana,  which  by  this  agreement  is  deeded  to  the  said 
Right  Reverend  J.  B.  Brondel,  Bishop  of  Helena,  the  party  of  the 
first  part.     Given,  etc. 

It  was  also  provided  in  the  same  agreement  that  another 
place  along  the  course  of  the  railroad  would  be  confided  to 
the  care  of  the  Society  by  the  Bishop. 

In  compliance  with  this  clause,  and  with  the  further  view 
to  facilitate  and  help  along  their  missionary  work  among  the 
Crows,  Bishop  Brondel  tendered  Billings  to  the  Jesuit  Fathers. 
The  reason  of  this  will  be  better  understood  when  it  is  known 
that  the  Crows  depreciated  the  Black  Robes  and  their  work 
among  them,  because  they  did  not  see  them  occupy  any  place 
among  the  whites  in  that  whole  section.  Whence  they  con- 
cluded that  the  Fathers  could  do  little  for  the  Indians  when 
they  were  doing  no  work  among  the  whites,  and,  as  a 
consequence,  this  loss  of  prestige  impaired  the  efficiency  of  the 
Fathers'  ministry  among  the  natives. 

The  tender  was  accepted.  But  some  time  after,  as  appears 
from  the  Archives  of  the  Diocese,  and  before  taking  actual 
possession  of  it,  the  place  was  surrendered  by  the  Superior  on 
the  ground  of  his  inability,  for  want  of  men,  to  assume  the 
charge. 

The  Bulls  creating  the  Helena  See  and  appointing  to  it  the 
Rt.  Rev.  John  B.  Brondel  as  its  first  Bishop  were  issued  by 
Leo  XIII  March  7,  1884. 

With  due  appreciation  of  the  favor  bestowed  on  Montana 
and  the  city  of  Helena  in  an  especial  manner,  the  Catholic 
community,  in  general  meeting  assembled,  adopted  unanimous 
resolutions  and  took  proper  steps  toward  a  becoming  expression 
of  their  grateful  feelings  and  filial  devotion  for  their  chief 
pastor.  Accordingly,  on  the  occasion  of  the  first  Diocesan 
Synod,  the  Hon.  T.  H.  Carter,  on  behalf  of  the  whole  Catholic 


432        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

community,    presented   to   the   Rt.    Rev.    Bishop   the    following 
address  and  testimonial : 

RIGHT  REVEREND  JOHN  B.  BRONDEL,  BISHOP  OF  HELENA  : 

Esteemed  and  Venerable  Sir : 

As  a  committee  selected  by  the  Catholic  Congregation,  we  humbly 
assume  the  pleasant  duty  of  bearing  testimony  to  your  Lordship  of 
the  great  veneration  and  profound  respect  in  which  the  members 
of  the  Congregation  hold  your  exalted  spiritual  position,  and  their 
sense  of  gratitude  for  the  conspicuous  favor  shown  them  in  the 
selection  of  Helena,  as  your  Lordship's  Episcopal  See. 

In  making  this  presentation  on  behalf  of  the  Congregation,  we 
desire  to  express  our  thankfulness  to  God  for  the  great  blessing 
bestowed  upon  this  Territory  in  the  creation  of  the  Diocese  of 
Helena,  and  of  our  deep  feelings  of  gratitude  to  His  Holiness,  Pope 
Leo  XIII  for  his  kind  consideration  and  paternal  solicitude  for  our 
spiritual  welfare. 

We  further  and  particularly  desire  formally  to  bid  your  Lordship 
welcome  to  Helena,  and  to  express  our  cordial  appreciation  and 
affectionate  regard  the  Congregation  entertains  for  your  Lordship's 
distinguished  attributes.  We  but  voice  the  conviction  of  the  entire 
people  in  saying  that  your  pious  example,  dignified,  prudent  and 
wise  course  of  action  during  your  residence  in  Helena,  have  elicited 
the  profound  respect  of  all  the  citizens  of  the  community,  to  the 
signal  benefit  of  the  church,  and  that  in  the  hearts  of  this  Congrega- 
tion your  Lordship  has  secured  abiding  confidence,  veneration  and 
love.  Actuated  by  a  desire  to  give  some  substantial  expression  to 
these  existing  sentiments,  we  most  respectfully  tender  your  Lordship 
the  enclosed  Certificate  of  Deposit,  and  beg  you  to  accept  it  as  a 
donation  from  the  Cathedral  Congregation,  accompanied  as  it  is  with 
their  fervent  prayers  for  your  preservation  and  continuance  in  the 
enjoyment  of  good  health. 

The  address  was  delivered  on  the  front  steps  of  the  episcopal 
residence  and,  besides  being  spoken  in  a  manner  no  less  pleasing 
than  impressive,  elicited  the  warmest  approval  from  both  the 
clergy  who  surrounded  his  Lordship,  and  the  laity  who  were 
present  in  great  numbers.  The  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop's  reply  was 
couched  in  language  appropriate  and  grateful.  The  certificate 
of  deposit  represented  the  sum  of  $650. 

With  the  transfer  of  the  Mission  to  the  new  Bishop,  Helena 
had  ceased  to  be  a  residence  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.    But  as  it  did 


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THE  DIOCESE  OF  HELENA  433 

not  seem  advisable  for  the  Jesuit  Fathers  to  withdraw  entirely 
and  at  once  from  the  place,  a  couple  of  them  still  continued 
to  reside  there.  It  is  clear  that  it  could  hardly  have  been 
otherwise,  there  being  no  secular  priests  in  the  new  Diocese  to 
replace  the  Jesuit  Fathers.  Hence  the  sudden  and  entire  with- 
drawal of  the  latter,  besides  proving  detrimental  to  the  spiritual 
welfare  of  the  faithful,  would  have  also  much  displeased  the 
Ordinary,  as  obviously,  instead  of  lessening  it,  it  would  have 
added  to  and  aggravated  the  difficulties  of  his  position.  This 
will  explain  why,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Helena  had 
ceased  to  be  a  residence  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  some  Jesuit 
Fathers  still  remained  on  duty  in  the  place,  not  only  for  the 
time  being  but  for  several  years  after. 

The  writer  remained  till  the  latter  part  of  December,  1883, 
when  on  his  being  assigned  to  another  field,  he  was  super- 
seded in  Helena  by  Father  C.  Imoda,  who,  as  we  shall  see  later 
on,  died  at  his  post.  His  place  was  now  taken  by  some  of 
his  confreres,  namely,  Father  P.  Barcelo;  then,  for  awhile,  by 
Father  A.  Ragaru,  and  lastly  again  by  the  present  incumbrance, 
we  mean  ourselves,  who  have  camped  on  Catholic  Hill  ever 
since  our  return  from  St.  Ignatius  Mission  in  the  spring  of 
1887.*  Adding  to  these,  whom  we  have  just  mentioned,  Father 
J.  Guidi,  who  also  had  previously  labored  on  this  Mission  and 
who,  returning,  was  now  Father  Imoda's  companion  for  about 
a  year,  we  shall  have  named  all  the  members  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus  who  to  the  present  day  have  resided  in  Helena  at  the 
service  of  the  Ordinary  from  the  date  of  his  arrival. 

*  The  author,  as  he  states  elsewhere,  has  been  stationed  in  various  places  in 
Washington  and  Montana  since  leaving  Helena. 


Chapter  XXI. 

DIOCESAN    SYNODS.       A    CLERICAL   IMPOSTOR. 

THE  first  Diocesan  Synod  just  alluded  to  in  the  preceding 
chapter  convened  June  24,  1884,  under  the  presidency  of  the 
Ordinary  and  was  attended  by  four  Secular  Priests  and  nine 
Jesuit  Fathers,  as  follows : 

Rt.  Rev.  John  B.  Brondel,  Bishop  of  Helena;  Revs.  Jos  M. 
Cataldo,  S.J.,  Superior  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains;  Peter  Barcelo,  S.J.,  Missionary  among  the  Crows; 
Jos.  Damiani,  S.J.,  Fort  Benton;  Jerome  D'Aste,  S.J.,  St.  Mary's 
Mission;  Remigius  De  Ryckere,  Deer  Lodge;  John  J.  Dols, 
St.  Patrick,  Butte;  Jos.  Guidi,  S.J.,  Cathedral;  Camillus  Imoda, 
S.J.,  Cathedral;  E.  W.  J.  Lindesmith,  U.  S.  A.  Chaplain,  Fort 
Keogh;  Jos.  Menetrey,  S.J.,  St.  Xavier,  Missoula;  Lawrence  B. 
Palladino,  S.J.,  St.  Ignatius  Mission;  L.  S.  Tremblay,  S.T.L., 
Frenchtown. 

The  opening  day,  being  the  Feast  of  St.  John  Baptist,  the 
Patron  Saint  of  the  Bishop  as  well  as  that  of  the  Diocese,  was 
made  the  occasion  for  blessing  and  laying  the  cornerstone  of 
the  new  St.  John's  Hospital. 

The  plans  and  specifications  for  the  new  structure  were  pre- 
pared gratuitously  by  William  Sweeney,  of  Baltimore,  Md.,  at 
the  request  of  his  brother,  John  M.  Sweeney,  an  old-timer  and 
much  respected  citizen  of  Helena  whom  we  have  mentioned 
several  times  in  this  narrative  and  who,  not  long  after,  passed 
away  to  his  reward. 

The  original  frame  structure  erected  fourteen  years  before 
was  moved  aside  sufficiently  to  make  room  for  the  new  edifice. 
The  annex  used  for  their  own  quarters  by  the  Sisters  was  moved 
and  joined  to  what  had  been  first  the  insane  asylum  and  later 
the  first  orphans'  home.  Of  the  old  land-marks  the  one  remain- 
ing and  still  serviceable  is  the  addition  put  up  by  Sister  Loretto. 


DIOCESAN  SYNODS  435 

Being  veneered  with  brick  it  could  be  utilized  in  the  plans  and 
was  left  to  form  the  rear  part  of  the  new  structure.* 

The  ceremony  of  blessing  and  laying  the  cornerstone  was 
unusually  impressive,  thirteen  of  the  clergy,  the  largest  number 
of  priests  that  had  ever  come  together  in  Montana,  being  present 
and  taking  part  in  the  function.  Later  in  the  day,  at  the  dinner 
served  in  honor  of  the  occasion  by  the  Hospital  Sisters,  the  clergy 
indulged  in  the  pleasantry  of  toasting  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  in 
twelve  different  languages,  namely,  Greek,  Latin,  English, 
Flemish,  Italian,  German,  French,  Blackfoot,  Crow,  Flat  Head 
and  Nez  Perces.     His  Lordship  replied  in  Chinook. 

Two  other  Synods  have  been  held  since  and  it  will  be  well  to 
refer  to  them  here. 

The  second  took  place  in  June,  1887,  its  meetings  or  sessions 
being  attended  by  seven  of  the  secular  clergy  and  six  Jesuit 
Fathers.  Like  the  first,  it  also  was  made  the  occasion  for  the 
blessing  and  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  a  new  edifice,  the 
present  St.  Vincent's  Academy,  the  ceremony  being  again  con- 
ducted with  unusual  circumstance  and  solemnity.  The  institu- 
tion from  humble  beginnings  has  grown  to  be,  perhaps,  the 
foremost  of  its  kind  in  Montana. 

In  the  same  Synod  the  Secular  Clergy,  following  the  lead  of 
the  Ordinary,  petitioned  the  Father  General  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus  for  the  establishment  of  a  College  in  Helena.  Owing  to 
circumstances  unexceptionally  favorable  at  the  time  the  petition 
was  granted. 

The  people  of  Helena,  however,  otherwise  so  far-sighted  in 
everything  calculated  to  advance  the  prestige,  influence  and 
prosperity  of  their  city,  failed  for  the  moment  to  appreciate  the 
opportunity.  Attempts  made  to  forward  the  project  met  with 
little  encouragement  and  the  College,  first  intended  for  Helena, 
has  since  been  located  in  Spokane,  where  it  has  admittedly 
become  an  important  factor  in  the  growth  of  the  "City  of  the 
Falls."  However,  it  is  with  no  little  pleasure  that  we  are  able  to 
record  in  this  second  edition  the  fact  that  Helena  can,  with 
pride,  point  today  to  Mt.  St.  Charles,  a  high-class  Catholic  Col- 

*  Still  later  on,  and  at  a  comparatively  recent  date,  the  hospital  was 
again  enlarged,  remodeled  and  almost  entirely  reconstructed,  and  is  to-day 
one  of  the  best  appointed  institutions  of  its  kind  in  Montana. 


436        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

lege,  which  has  recently  been  created  in  the  capital  city  of 
Montana  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  J.  P.  Carroll,  the  successor  of  the  late 
Bishop  Brondel. 

The  third  and  last  Synod  was  celebrated  four  years  later,  that 
is,  in  June,  1891,  nine  secular  priests  and  five  Jesuit  Fathers 
participating  in  its  deliberations.  By  comparing  one  Synod  with 
the  other  it  will  be  seen  that  the  secular  clergy  of  the  Diocese 
were  increasing  though  not  very  rapidly. 

About  the  time  of  the  events  chronicled  above,  there  came  to 
Helena  by  way  of  Great  Falls  an  individual  claiming  to  be  one 
of  the  Oblates  M.  I.,  who  labor  so  zealously  and  so  successfully 
on  the  missions  across  the  British  line.  He  was  a  middle-aged 
man,  of  medium  height,  partly  clad  as  a  cleric,  but  rather  unre- 
fined in  both  appearance  and  manners.  In  fact,  his  looks  and  ways 
led  several  into  the  suspicion  that  the  man  was  really  a  Jew,  but 
whether  such  or  not,  so  far  as  we  know,  has  not  been  clearly 
established.  He  spoke  French  fairly  well,  but  poor  and  broken 
English,  while  his  accent  showed  him  unmistakably  a  German. 

His  coming  had  been  announced  to  Bishop  Brondel  by  a 
telegram  from  Great  Falls,  not  received,  however,  until  an  hour 
or  so  after  the  man's  arrival.  The  message  had  been  signed 
presumably  by  one  of  the  Bishops  of  British  Columbia,  but  the 
signature  was  a  forgery.  The  fellow  had  represented  himself 
in  that  part  of  the  country  as  the  Superior  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers 
of  Montana.  He  now  represented  himself  as  the  Superior  of  the 
Oblates  M.  I.,  across  the  border.  He  called  himself  Father 
Lawrence,  or  Pere  Laurent,  in  French. 

Bishop  Brondel  received  his  visitor  rather  coolly  and  not  with- 
out some  misgivings,  at  first,  but  thrown  off  his  guard  by  the 
forged  telegram,  soon  became  much  interested  in  the  stranger 
and,  in  a  way,  fascinated  by  him  and  his  innumerable  stories, 
which  bordered  on  the  marvelous.  According  to  his  account  he 
had  been  a  personal  and  intimate  friend  of  President  Carnot, 
of  France,  and  a  favorite  of  Pius  IX,  had  also  for  several  years 
been  a  missionary  in  China,  where  he  had  suffered  for  the  faith, 
to  the  point  of  being  left  for  dead  by  his  executioners.  In  con- 
firmation of  which  he  showed  an  ugly  scar  on  his  person. 

The  Bishop  happened  to  be  reading  at  this  very  time  the  life 
of  Venerable — now  Blessed — John   Baptist  Vianney,   the  Cure 


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DIOCESAN  SYNODS  437 

d'Ars,  which  gave  the  shrewd  fellow  the  chance  of  playing  a 
trump  card.  He  now  began  to  speak  of  his  long  intimacy  with 
the  servant  of  God,  declaring  that  he  had  lived  with  him  a 
number  of  years  so  that  he  had  come  to  be  known  as  the  Petit 
Cure  d'Ars  by  the  people,  who  would  call  him  by  no  other  name. 

While  his  Lordship  appeared  to  be  all  wrapped  up  in  his  visitor 
and  the  man's  tales,  the  writer  and  Father  Follet  could  hardly 
bear  the  sight  of  the  stranger  and  would  absent  themselves 
deliberately  from  his  company.  He  spent  some  two  weeks  in  the 
Bishop's  House  and  said  Mass  every  morning,  but  a  glance  at 
his  conduct  whilst  at  the  altar  convinced  the  writer  that  the 
stranger  had  woefully  forgotten  his  rubrics  if,  indeed,  he  had 
ever  learnt  them. 

It  was  a  Saturday,  late  in  the  evening,  that  his  Lordship 
entered  our  room  to  chide  us,  good-naturedly,  for  our  distant 
manner  toward  the  guest.  Charity  covereth  a  multitude  of  sins 
and  according  to  the  teaching  as  well  as  the  experience  of  St. 
Francis  de  Sales,  it  is  no  easy  matter  to  combine  virtuously  the 
simplicity  of  the  dove  and  the  prudence  of  the  serpent,  as  our 
Divine  Saviour  bids  us  do.  Hence  it  is  that  good  souls,  of  all 
others,  are  the  most  liable  to  be  imposed  upon  by  designing, 
artful  people.  The  reason  is  obvious.  Of  the  two,  namely,  the 
risk  of  wounding  charity  by  suspicion  and  distrust  and  that  of 
being  duped  by  frauds  they  dread  the  former  far  more  than  the 
latter,  being  as  they  always  are  solicitous  not  to  sin,  and  caring 
little  whether  they  suffer  themselves.  Thus  their  very  goodness 
making  them,  as  it  does,  more  unsuspecting,  renders  them  also 
much  more  liable  to  be  imposed  upon  by  cunning  impostors. 

We  had  caught  the  man  in  a  couple  of  inconsistencies  incom- 
patible with  straightforward  and  sincere  conduct.  We  mentioned 
these  to  the  Bishop,  who  was  startled  and  hardly  closed  his  eyes 
in  sleep  that  night. 

The  guest  had  left  the  premises  rather  early  in  the  morning 
to  go  to  St.  Helena's  Church,  where  by  previous  arrangement 
he  was  to  hold  services  and  preach  to  the  German  congregation. 
The  Bishop  felt  justified  in  examining  the  man's  belongings  and 
found  in  his  valise  several  letterblanks,  with  the  Episcopal  coat- 
of-arms  on  them,  which  the  stranger  had  hurriedly  taken  from 
the  Bishop's  study,  where  he  had  been  left  alone  no  more  than 


i 


438        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

one  or  two  minutes.  The  Bishop  found  there  also  one  of  the 
four  parts  of  a  breviary,  which,  however,  did  not  correspond  to 
the  season  and  which  had  written  upon  it  the  name  of  Father 
Dols.  Bishop  Brondel  now  hastened  to  the  German  Church, 
intending  to  say  Mass  there  himself,  if  he  could  do  so  without 
creating  a  scene  that  might  cause  scandal.  It  was  too  late,  the 
man  was  already  at  the  altar. 

At  dinner,  during  which  not  a  single  word  was  spoken,  the 
stranger  sat  to  the  Bishop's  left  and  surely  he  must  have  noticed 
the  changed  attitude  of  his  host,  though  neither  he  nor  Father 
Follet  knew  the  reason.  Immediately  after  dinner  the  Bishop 
followed  the  fellow  upstairs  and  curtly,  yet  with  becoming 
dignity  and  perfect  self-control,  ordered  him  out  of  the  house. 
We  could  not  but  admire  on  this,  as  well  as  on  other  occasions, 
Bishop  Brondel's  mastery  over  himself. 

Notices  were  sent  out  to  all  the  priests  of  the  Diocese  to  put 
them  on  their  guard  against  the  clerical  fraud,  who,  notwith- 
standing, succeeded  in  deceiving  a  number  of  people,  not  in 
Montana  alone,  but  in  Idaho,  Washington  and  Oregon.  In  the 
meantime,  as  his  past  unsavory  record  became  better  known,  it 
also  came  to  light  that  he  had  been  in  jail  one  or  more  times.* 

One  Sunday  afternoon  whilst  our  school  children  were 
assembled  in  the  hall  back  of  the  church  to  rehearse  for  the 
closing  exercises,  a  terrific  storm  broke  out,  one  peal  of  thunder 
after  another  shaking  us  up  rather  unpleasantly.  Suddenly 
there  came  a  blinding  flash  accompanied  by  a  deafening  crash. 
The  lightning  had  shattered  the  turret  on  the  southeast  corner 
of  the  building  and  a  globe  of  fire  somewhat  smaller  in  size  than 
a  football,  but  perfectly  spherical,  blinding  by  its  glare,  was  seen 
speeding  along  the  angle  of  the  structure  beneath  the  shattered 
turret.  It  cut  diagonally  across  the  stage,  where  at  the  moment 
several  of  the  pupils  were  standing,  making  its  exit  by  one  of 

*  Strange  to  say,  some  six  years  later  the  same  individual  appeared  again 
on  the  Sound  and  in  other  parts  of  the  Northwest.  But  he  had  promoted 
himself  in  the  meanwhile,  as  he  now  went  about  in  episcopal  paraphernalia 
playing  the  Bishop.  He  was  no  longer  simple  Father  Lawrence,  but  had  be- 
come the  Rt.  Rev.  Rupert,  Bishop  of  Honolulu,  in  the  Sandwich  Islands.  As 
such,  he  introduced  himself  to  the  Rt.  Rev.  A.  J.  Glorieux,  of  Boise,  Idaho, 
who,  however,  soon  discovered  and  exposed  the  impostor.  According  to  re- 
ports, he  was  caught  elsewhere  sometime  later  on  in  transactions  at  variance 
with  the  law  of  the  land,  and  was  again  placed  in  durance  vile. 


DIOCESAN  SYNODS  439 

the  open  windows  on  the  west  side.  Thank  God,  no  one  was 
harmed.  The  young  people  as  well  as  the  Sisters  who  were  with 
them  and  those  who  sat  near  the  path  of  the  bolt  were  shocked 
into  momentary  insensibility. 

Here  we  shall  leave  for  a  while  the  local  history  of  Helena 
and  turn  our  attention  to  some  of  its  dependencies.  This  we 
shall  do  in  the  next  three  chapters,  in  the  last  of  which  a  brief 
reference  will  also  be  made  to  our  cemeteries. 


Chapter  XXII. 

DEPENDENCIES   OF   THE    HELENA    MISSION. 
BOULDER  AND  THREE   FORKS. 

AMONG  the  earlier  dependencies  of  the  Helena  Church  are 
the  Missouri  Valley  and  the  Boulder  Valley  settlements.  We 
have  spoken  of  the  former  already.  The  Boulder  Valley  settle- 
ment also  contains  an  industrious  and  thriving  community  of 
ranchers  and  farmers,  who  are  likewise  mostly  Catholics.  It 
was  one  of  the  first  agricultural  centers  to  spring  up  east  of  the 
main  Range,  and  lies  some  forty  miles  south  of  Helena,  whence 
it  has  been  attended  more  or  less  regularly.* 

The  little  church,  whose  picture  is  shown  herewith,  was  built 
by  Father  Venneman  in  1 880-81,  the  site  for  it  having  been 
donated  by  Michael  Quinn.  It  is  named  after  St.  John,  Apostle 
and  Evangelist,  and  lies  about  the  center  of  the  valley. 

As  we  write,  another  church  or  chapel  is  being  constructed  at 
Boulder  City,  a  new  and  promising  town  at  the  upper  end  of  the 
valley  and  since  some  time  the  seat  of  Jefferson  County.  Clancy, 
Jefferson  City,  with  Comet  and  Gregory,  two  mining  camps  up 
in  the  mountains,  but  comparatively  near,  are  also  among  the 
old-time  settlements  of  the  district.  Wickes,  Basin,  Woodville, 
with  Elkhorn,  are  all  newer  additions. 

Boulder  will  ever  enjoy  the  privilege  of  having  been  one  of 
the  places  where  Christianity  was  first  preached  and  the  holy 
sacrifice  of  the  Mass  first  offered  in  Montana.  As  related  in 
Part  I,  Father  P.  J.  De  Smet,  coming  over  from  the  Big  Hole 
basin  with  the  Flat  Head  Indians  in  the  summer  of  1840,  tarried 
a  number  of  days  with  them  at  the  lower  end  of  the  valley  and 
presumably  on  what  is  known  as  Jefferson  Island. 

Three  Forks,  in  the  vicinity  of  what  became  known  for  a  time 
as  Gallatin  City  and  close  to  the  historical  spot  where  Father 
De  Smet  parted  with  his  Flat  Head  neophytes  on  his  first  journey 

*  Boulder  has  had  resident  pastors  for  several  years. 


St.  John's  Church,  Boulder  Valley 


Church  of  the  Holy  Rosary,  Bozeman,  Montana 


BOULDER  AND  THREE  FORKS  44i 

to  our  mountains,  was  the  third  dependency  to  have  a  chapel.  It 
was  erected  by  Father  Guidi,  who  had  now  returned  for  awhile 
to  Helena.  The  site,  consisting  of  half  a  block,  was  donated  by 
a  corporation  of  non-Catholics  who,  besides,  contributed  $200 
in  cash  toward  the  building  of  the  church. 

Dr.  William  Tracy,  so  well  known  today  as  a  kindly  gentle- 
man and  leading  physician,  resided  at  the  time  in  Three  Forks 
and  though  not  a  Catholic,  served  on  the  committee  chosen  for 
the  building  of  the  church,  proving  himself  one  of  its  most 
efficient  members.  The  chapel  was  blessed  and  named  after  the 
Holy  Family  by  Bishop  Brondel,  July  25,  1886. 

Bozeman  and  White  Sulphur  Springs. 

Next  in  order  is  Bozeman,  98  miles  from  Helena  by  stage  and 
one  of  the  oldest  and  prettiest  town-sites  in  the  state.  It  lies  at 
the  head  of  a  fertile  valley  which  has  been  named  very  appro- 
priately "Montana's  Granary."  It  has  today  a  population  of 
2,500  souls  and  is  the  seat  of  Gallatin  County.  Somehow,  the 
proportion  of  Catholics  has  always  been  less  here  than  in  other 
parts  of  Montana.  Nevertheless,  some  of  the  best  Catholic 
families  live  in  this  district,  embracing  the  two  Gallatins  and 
Middle  Creek.  Fort  Ellis,  established  in  1867,  but  quite  recently 
abandoned,  stood  about  four  miles  east  of  the  town. 

Steps  toward  the  erection  of  a  church  in  Bozeman  were  taken 
as  early  as  1879  and  two  whole  blocks  for  the  purpose  were 
offered  by  a  non-Catholic  gentleman  of  the  place.  The  ground, 
meant  to  be  a  gift  to  further  the  cause  of  religion,  lay  between 
the  present  railroad  depot  and  the  business  part  of  town.  It 
would  have  been  a  very  good  site  whereon  to  build  the  church, 
but  the  misrepresentations  made  to  the  Superior  by  someone 
badly  informed,  led  to  its  non-acceptance. 

In  1880,  the  writer  received  instructions  to  go  over  to  Boze- 
man and  look  up  another  church  location.  He  did  so,  spending 
several  weeks  there  for  that  purpose.  He  failed,  however,  both 
because  of  the  small  number  of  Catholics  in  the  town  and  because 
the  previous  offer  had  been  declined. 

But  what  he  had  failed  to  do  was  accomplished  later  on  by 
others,  namely,  by  Father  Guidi  and  the  Rev.  C.  Pauwelyn,  who 
gave  to  Bozeman  the  present  church.  The  former  commenced 
it,  while  the  latter  completed  it.     The  site  consists  of  four  lots 


442        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

and  was  donated  by  Walter  Cooper.  The  Ordinary  blessed 
the  new  church  August  29,  1886,  naming  it  after  Our  Lady  of 
the  Most  Holy  Rosary. 

In  the  latter  part  of  August,  1889,  the  Rev.  Amatus  R.  Coop- 
man  was  assigned  to  Bozeman  as  Pastor  of  the  place  and  its 
dependencies.  He  is  an  active  and  energetic  worker  from 
Sweveghem,  West  Flanders,  Belgium,  where  he  was  born  April 
21,  1863.  After  his  Latin  studies  he  entered  the  American 
College  at  Louvain,  where  June  29,  1888,  he  received  priestly 
orders  and  whence  he  came  to  Montana,  reaching  Helena  on  the 
13th  of  the  following  September. 

Up  to  the  time  of  his  appointment  to  Bozeman,  the  Rev.  A.  R. 
Coopman  remained  attached  to  the  Cathedral  whence  he  visited, 
on  his  special  missionary  duty,  several  outlying  settlements 
When  he  was  changed  to  Bozeman  the  two  Gallatins,  Three 
Forks  and  other  places,  first  visited  from  Helena,  became  also 
part  of  his  field. 

White  Sulphur  Springs,  which  for  years  had  been  attended 
from  Helena,  passed  likewise  at  this  date  to  his  care  and  soon 
felt  the  good  effects  of  Father  Coopman's  zeal  and  efficiency. 
Dr.  Wm.  Parberry,  a  long-time  resident  of  the  place,  though  not 
a  Catholic,  had  donated  some  years  before  a  site  for  a  Catholic 
church.  It  took  but  a  short  time  for  Father  Coopman  to  have  a 
church  under  construction.  The  chapel  has  since  been  completed 
and  named  after  St.  Bartholomew. 

White  Sulphur  Springs  is  a  picturesque  mountain  town  of 
some  500  inhabitants  and  owing  to  the  healing  properties  of  its 
mineral  springs  whence  it  takes  its  name,  promises  to  be  in  the 
near  future  one  of  the  best  health  resorts  in  the  Northwest.  A 
great  drawback  to  its  advancement  has  been,  so  far,  its  remote- 
ness from  other  centers  of  population  and  the  difficulty  of  reach- 
ing it,  the  spot  being  accessible  only  by  the  roughest  kind  of 
mountain  roads. 

Toward  the  end  of  August,  1891,  Father  Coopman  was  trans- 
ferred to  Livingston,  and  now  Bozeman  fell  to  the  care  of  Father 
Lambaere.  Soon  after,  however,  the  latter  passed  over  to  the 
west  side  and  the  Bozeman  district  became  part  of  the  new  district 
of  Livingston,  whence  it  was  to  be  attended  for  the  time  being 
and  until  some  better  arrangement  could  be  made  for  the  Boze- 


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The  Rev.  Francis  X.   Batens 

VETERAN  SECULAR  PRIESTS   OF   MONTANA   STILL  LABORING  IN   THE  LORD'S  VINEYARD 


BOULDER  AND  THREE  FORKS  443 

man  community.     Likewise,  White  Sulphur  Springs  was  now 
aerain  to  be  attended  from  Helena. 

The  one  to  whose  care  the  place  last  mentioned  has  been  com- 
mitted is  the  Rev.  Francis  X.  Batens  of  the  Cathedral.  This 
young  missionary  priest  is  a  recent  addition  to  the  clergy  of  the 
Diocese  and  hails  from  Haasdonk,  East  Flanders,  Belgium,  where 
he  was  born  December  u,  1868.  After  his  humanities  and  the 
course  of  philosophy  pursued  in  the  Seminary  of  St.  Nicholas, 
he  entered  the  American  College  at  Louvain  in  1888,  where  he 
received  the  priesthood  at  the  hands  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  A.  J. 
Glorieux,  June  29,  1891.  In  the  following  September  he  left 
Belgium  for  Montana,  arriving  at  Helena  October  12th.  Upon 
his  arrival  he  was  given  the  pastoral  charge  of  White  Sulphur 
Springs  and  also  of  the  Boulder  and  Missouri  Valley  settlements 
and  their  dependencies  where  he  is  daily  growing  in  the  esteem 
and  affection  of  all  these  scattered  communities  intrusted  to  his 
missionary  zeal. 

Marysville. 

Among  the  earlier  dependencies  of  Helena  the  nearest  one 
where  a  chapel  has  been  erected  is  Marysville,  the  center  of  a 
rich  mining  district,  twenty  miles  northwest  of  Helena.  The 
town  which  contains  today  about  1,000  souls,  among  them  some 
three  hundred  Catholics,  owes  its  existence  to  the  famed  Drum 
Lummon  mine,  discovered  by  Thomas  Cruse  about  fifteen  years 
ago,  and  which  he  sold  in  1882  to  an  English  Company  for  one 
and  a  half  million  dollars. 

Thomas  Cruse,  the  lucky  finder  of  this  bonanza,  is  a  plain, 
brainy  son  of  Ireland,  who,  without  sporting  the  sheep  skin 
diploma  of  a  university  or  college,  is  endowed,  nevertheless, 
with  more  common  sense  than  falls  to  the  share  of  ordinary 
mortals.  The  simple  fact  of  his  having  leaped  at  one  bound  from 
the  lowly  plane  of  hard  manual  labor  to  the  very  pinnacle  of 
wealth,  untouched  by  giddiness  and  without  the  least  cooling  off 
in  the  practice  of  his  religion,  is  evidence  enough  of  an  uncom- 
monly well  balanced  head  and  the  soundness  of  his  heart. 

March  2,  1886,  was  a  day  long  to  be  remembered  in  Helena. 
On  that  morning  with  unusual  splendor  and  circumstances  was 
celebrated  an  impressive  ceremony  in  the  Cathedral  of  the  Sacred 
Hearts,  witnessed  by  as  many  as  could  crowd  into  the  sacred 


444        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

edifice.  It  was  the  marriage  of  Thomas  Cruse  and  Margaret 
Carter,  an  estimable  young  woman  of  rare  accomplishments  and 
singular  piety.  But  how  short  are  life's  joys  here  below!  On 
the  27th  of  the  following  December  Margaret  Cruse  had  passed 
away.  Not  before,  however,  she  had  left  to  her  grieving  hus- 
band a  live  part  of  herself,  a  sweet  baby  girl.  May  the  child 
grow  in  age,  wisdom  and  grace  and  may  she  never  set  greater 
store  by  the  fortune  than  the  faith  and  piety  of  her  parents. 

Clustering  around  the  Drum  Lummon  are  several  other  mines 
well  known  for  their  richness  which  have  supported  smaller 
communities  of  miners  for  many  years.  They,  too,  have  been 
visited  from  Helena.* 

The  Marysville  Church  was  built  in  1886  by  Father  C.  Pau- 
welyn,  liberally  assisted  by  the  whole  mining  community  irre- 
spective of  creed.  Still,  Annie  Dillon,  a  pious  and  energetic 
young  woman  of  the  place,  is  entitled  to  special  credit,  having 
proved  herself  the  most  efficient  promotor  of  the  work.  The 
chapel  stands  on  a  site  donated  by  Thomas  Cruse,  and  was 
blessed  by  the  Ordinary  on  September  29,  1886,  under  the  title  of 
Our  Lady  of  Lourdes. 

It  has  since  been  enlarged  and  improved,  is  today  one  of  the 
neatest,  tidiest  and  best  furnished  chapels  to  be  found  in  any 
outlying  Mission  of  the  Helena  district.  These  improvements 
are  all  due  to  Father  C.  G.  Follet  who  attended  Marysville  and 
to  whom  a  more  extended  reference  is  made  further  on  in  our 
narrative. 

*  The  principal  of  these  mines,  apart  from  the  Drum  Lummon,  are  the 
Penobscot,  at  one  time  nearly  as  famed  as  the  former,  and  lying  almost  on 
top  of  the  main  Range;  the  Blue  Bird,  at  Mount  Pleasant;  the  Belmont, 
adjacent  to  Marysville;  the  Gloster,  a  little  to  the  northwest;  the  Jay  Gould 
and  the  Empire,  one  and  all,  within  the  radius  of  a  few  miles. 


jf 


St.  Leo's  Church,  Lewiston 


t 


St.  Mary's  Church,  Livingston 


Chapter  XXIII. 

MILES    CITY,    GLENDIVE,    BILLINGS,    LIVINGSTON. 

FROM  the  earlier  dependencies  of  which  we  have  spoken  in 
the  preceding  chapter,  we  now  pass  on  to  those  of  more 
recent  date.  Most  of  these  came  into  existence  since  the  con- 
struction of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  and  lie  between  the 
Bozeman  or  Gallatin  Range  and  the  Dakota  line. 

Miles  City. 

The  first  to  be  mentioned  is  Miles  City  on  the  banks  of  Tongue 
River  near  its  confluence  with  the  Yellowstone  and  whose 
beginnings  date  from  the  establishment,  in  1876-77,  of  Fort 
Keogh,  in  whose  vicinity  the  town  is  built. 

The  place  derives  its  name  from  General  Nelson  Miles,  U.  S. 
A.,  so  well  known  in  the  annals  of  Indian  wars,  while  its  growth 
may  be  said  to  have  commenced  with  the  approach  of  the  rail- 
road, in  1881.  The  place  was  first  visited  by  one  of  the  Bene- 
dictine Fathers  from  Bismark,  Dakota,  who  also  about  this  time 
took  the  first  steps  toward  building  a  church  by  securing  the  site. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  Rev.  E.  W.  J.  Lindesmith,  of  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  became  U.  S.  A.  Chaplain  at  Fort  Keogh,  and  for  some 
years  was  the  only  priest  between  Bismark  and  Helena.  Though 
as  U.  S.  A.  Chaplain  he  had  to  spend  most  of  his  time  with  the 
soldiers  at  the  Fort,  still  when  not  on  actual  duty  there  he  was 
authorized  by  the  officers  in  command  to  attend  sickcalls  and  do 
other  missionary  work  in  the  surrounding  settlements,  particu- 
larly in  Miles  City  because  of  its  proximity  to  the  Fort.  The 
Miles  City  Church,  named  afted  the  Sacred  Heart,  was  erected 
by  him  and  he  may  be  said  to  have  been,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
pastor  of  the  place  for  several  years. 

But  he  did  a  large  amount  of  good,  not  in  Miles  City  alone  and 
the  Fort  where  he  commanded  the  respect  and  esteem  of  every- 
body, civilian,  soldier,  rank  and  file;  his  ministrations  extended 
to  every  settlement  in  this  part  of  Montana.     People  loved  to 


446        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

hear  him  and  while  his  instructions  and  lectures  were  always 
pleasing  and  often  original,  they  proved  no  less  effective.  For 
his  frank,  soldierly  way  of  speaking  appeared  to  impart  both  a 
special  charm  as  well  as  a  special  force  to  his  words. 

After  serving  his  full  term  of  military  chaplainship,  Father 
Lindesmith,  in  1891,  returned  to  the  Cleveland  Diocese,  his 
departure  being  much  regretted  both  at  Fort  Keogh  and  Miles 
City.* 

As  related  elsewhere,  Miles  City  was  visited  from  Helena  first, 
by  Father  Venneman  in  1881-82,  then  by  the  writer  in  the 
summer  of  1883,  and  by  Bishop  Brondel  in  January  of  the  fol- 
lowing year,  1884,  when  the  latter  went  thither  to  receive  in 
person  the  Christmas  gift,  the  colony  of  Ursulines,  sent  to 
Montana  by  Bishop  Gilmour. 

In  October,  1887,  Father  Pauwelyn  was  stationed  here  and 
during  his  stay  made  several  improvements  in  the  church  grounds 
and  the  premises.  Glendive,  Forsyth  and  several  other  settle- 
ments in  this  section  were  attended  at  this  date  from  Miles  City. 

Changes  followed  later  on,  Father  Pauwelyn  going  to  Butte 
and  Father  van  den  Broeck  coming  to  Miles  City. 

The  Ursulines  have  established  a  day  and  boarding  school  for 
young  ladies.  It  has  been  named  the  Academy  of  the  Sacred 
Heart. 

Glendive. 

About  90  miles  east  of  Miles  City  lies  Glendive,  the  border  city 
of  eastern  Montana.  Here  in  the  spring  of  1886,  a  Protestant 
meeting  house  was  purchased  for  $1,500  and  fitted  up  as  a 
Catholic  church,  Mass  being  said  therein  the  next  day  for  the 
first  time  by  Bishop  Brondel.  The  blessing  of  the  church  took 
place  on  the  12th  of  the  following  September  when  it  was 
dedicated  to  St.  Juliana,  whose  Feast  occurs  April  6,  the  day  on 
which  the  building  had  been  bought  from  the  Congregationalists 
of  the  place. 

We  find  recorded  in  Bishop  Brondel's  diary  that  a  genuine 
Indian  war  broke  out  there  during  one  of  his  visits  to  Glendive. 
It  was,  however,  of  short  duration  and  the  battlefield  did  not 

*  Father  Lindesmith  is  the  inventor  of  what  goes  under  the  name  of  arti- 
ficial coal  or  punk,  so  convenient  in  church  functions  whenever  the  use  of  the 
censer  is  required  by  the  rubrics.  His  preparation,  besides  being  always  handy 
and  easily  ignited,  burns  slowly,  emits  no  odor  and  is  perfectly  smokeless. 


MILES  CITY,  GLENDIVE,  BILLINGS,  LIVINGSTON  447 

extend  beyond  the  jail,  where  three  Sioux  Indians  and  two 
whites  were  at  the  time  held  in  confinement  by  the  law.  The 
prisoners  had  been  living  peacefully  together  and  apparently  on 
terms  of  friendship.  One  day,  after  a  protracted  game  of  cards, 
it  was  noticed  that  the  Indians  grew  taciturn  and  sulky  and 
shortly  after  they  were  seen  daubing  themselves  with  paint.  This 
done,  without  other  warning  than  a  savage  yell,  with  knives  in 
their  hands,  they  sprang  upon  the  two  whites  who  were  soon 
lying  on  the  floor  weltering  in  their  own  blood.  Two  of  the 
savages  strangled  themselves  instantly  after  the  treacherous 
deed,  while  the  third  was  seized  upon  by  the  bailiffs  before  he 
could  do  away  with  himself.  Bishop  Brondel  was  summoned  to 
the  bloody  scene  and  had  time  to  give  the  last  rites  of  the  Church 
to  one  of  the  two  whites  who  proved  to  be  an  Italian.  The 
other  survived. 

Billings  and  Livingston. 

Retracing  our  steps  westward,  but  without  leaving  the  section 
east  of  the  Bozeman  Range,  the  next  two  towns  and  depend- 
encies where  churches  have  been  erected  are  Billings  and 
Livingston.  While  the  latter  nestles  at  the  foot  of  the  Range 
just  mentioned,  the  former  lies  about  half  way  between  it  and 
Miles  City.  Both  places  sprang  up  in  1882-83  and  have  since 
advanced  to  moderate  dimensions,  Billings  contained  some 
1,500  and  Livingston  close  on  to  4,000  people.* 

The  latter  place  is  the  gateway  to  the  Yellowstone  National 
Park,  a  land  of  world-wide  fame  and  visited  yearly  by  thousands 
of  tourists.f 

The  first  Mass  in  Billings,  as  well  as  in  Livingston,  was  said 
by  the  writer  in  the  early  summer  of  1883,  at  which  time  the 
latter  place  was  mostly  a  town  of  tents  and  canvas  dwellings. 
He  revisited  Livingston  in  the  following  October  when  he 
administered   the   first   two   baptisms   in   that   new   community, 

*  At  the  time  of  publication  (September,  1922)  Billings  is  credited  with  a 
population  of  15,100  and  Livingston  of  6,311. 

t  Apart  from  a  small  and  insignificant  fraction,  this  land  of  many  wonders 
belongs  geographically  to  Wyoming.  But  being  inaccessible  by  rail  otherwise 
travel  to  it  is  through  Montana,  over  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  and  by 
way  of  Livingston,  whence  a  branch  of  the  main  line  takes  the  tourist  to 
the  Park. 


448       CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

whilst  the  first  baptisms  in  Billings  were  conferred  by  Father 
Barcelo  the  following  November. 

Later  on,  the  Rev.  J.  Halton,  who  for  a  short  while  became  one 
of  the  Diocesan  clergy,  was  given  charge  of  Livingston,  whence 
he  also  attended  Billings.  In  this  latter  place  he  secured  two  lots 
for  a  church,  but  no  further  steps  were  taken  in  that  direction 
until  after  some  time  when  the  people  themselves  took  the  matter 
in  hand  and  of  their  own  accord  erected  on  the  ground  previ- 
ously secured  a  church  costing  $2,000  which  the  Ordinary  blessed 
and  dedicated  August  21,  1887,  under  the  name  and  patronage 
of  St.  Joachim. 

The  site  for  a  Catholic  church  in  Livingston  was  donated  by 
the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  Company.  It  consisted  of  four 
lots  and  thereon  the  foundations  of  a  church  were  laid  in 
1884-85,  but  no  move  toward  the  superstructure  was  made  until 
the  appointment  of  Father  Coopman  to  Bozeman.  As  to  him 
now  fell  also  the  charge  of  Livingston,  his  energy  and  push 
soon  brought  the  building  to  completion.  The  church,  a  neat, 
substantial  brick  edifice,  is  a  credit  to  him  and  the  Catholics  of 
the  place.  Mass  therein  was  first  said  on  the  Feast  of  the  Holy 
Innocents,  1890.  Its  formal  blessing,  however,  did  not  take 
place  until  January  24,  when  it  received  the  title  of  St.  Mary. 

Previous  to  the  opening  of  the  new  church  services  were  held  in 
a  small  frame  building,  which  had  been  an  Episcopalian  chapel. 
Father  C.  Pauwelyn  purchased  and  fitted  up  the  structure  for 
Catholic  worship,  naming  it  after  St.  Bernard.  Sometime  after 
it  was  moved  from  its  original  location  to  what  was  erroneously 
supposed  to  be  the  church  ground  donated  by  the  railroad  com- 
pany.    On  the  error  being  discovered  the  old  frame  was  sold. 

While  Father  Coopman's  place  of  residence  was  Livingston, 
his  missionary  field  extended  over  four  counties,  namely,  Galla- 
tin, Custer,  Park  and  Yellowstone,  having  in  each  of  them 
dependencies  to  look  after.  Within  his  mission  district  was  also 
included  the  National  Park,  confided  to  him  by  the  Ordinary  of 
Wyoming,  because,  whilst  that  region  of  natural  wonders  falls 
within  the  canonical  jurisdiction  of  the  latter,  it  is  not  easily 
accessible  except  by  way  of  Livingston. 

In  connection  with  the  Yellowstone  settlements  may  also  be 
mentioned  Fort  Custer,  established  on  the  banks  of  the  Big  Horn 


Our  Lady  of  Lourdes,  Marysville 


Church  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  Miles  City 


MILES  CITY,  GLENDIVE,  BILLINGS,  LIVINGSTON  449 

in  1887.  The  Fort  was  first  visited  from  Helena  by  Father 
Barcelo,  who  on  his  missionary  excursions  to  and  from  the 
Crows,  never  failed  to  spend  there  some  time,  to  dispense  the 
comforts  of  our  Divine  religion  to  a  goodly  number  of  Catholics 
in  the  garrison. 


Chapter  XXIV. 
st.  Helena's  church,    cemeteries. 

THE  last  dependency  still  to  be  mentioned  in  order  to  com- 
plete this  part  of  our  subject  is  St.  Helena's  Church,  located 
on  Ninth  and  Hoback  Streets,  Helena. 

Within  the  last  two  years  the  increasing  number  of  Catholics 
in  the  city  rendered  necessary  the  building  of  another  church  for 
their  accommodation.  The  Cathedral  had  now  become  too  small 
for  the  congregation,  and  many  of  our  people  lived  too  far  to 
attend  it  and  gather  therein  for  worship.  As  a  consequence,  a 
desirable  site  for  a  new  church  was  secured  in  the  northeastern 
part  of  the  city,  where  lived  a  number  of  Catholic  families, 
mostly  of  German  extraction,  and  there  the  new  church  was 
erected  under  the  name  and  patronage  of  St.  Helena. 

The  prime  mover  in  the  work  was  Father  Meurer,  C.SS.R., 
who,  as  we  shall  see  a  little  further  on,  came  with  other  confreres 
to  give  missions  throughout  the  Helena  Diocese.  The  begin- 
ning as  well  as  the  speedy  completion  of  the  new  church  are  due 
to  his  earnest  endeavors  and  efficiency.  The  corner-stone  was 
laid  by  the  Ordinary  in  the  presence  of  a  large  crowd,  March 
10,  1889,  and  construction  proceeded  with  such  activity  that 
Easter  Sunday  saw  the  building  opened  for  Divine  service.  The 
church  was  a  neat  and  substantial  brick  structure,  appropriately 
furnished  and  costing  complete  $5,700.  Its  formal  dedication 
took  place  September  27,  1891,  when  the  Ordinary,  besides 
blessing  the  church,  blessed  also  a  new  bell  for  the  same,  and 
thus  rendered  the  occasion  doubly  interesting  and  solemn. 

The  Rev.  Charles  G.  Follet  was  pastor  of  St.  Helena's,  attend- 
ing it  from  the  Cathedral.  Born  in  Alveringhen,  West  Flanders, 
Belgium,  April  16,  1863,  he  made  his  primary  studies  in  the 
parochial  school  of  his  native  place,  whence  in  1877  he  passed 
to  the  College  of  Furnes  for  his  humanities.  He  studied  phil- 
osophy in  the  Seminary  of  Roulers,  and  thence,  in  September, 
1884,  he  entered  the  American  College  at  Louvain,  receiving  his 


CEMETERIES  4Si 

minor  orders  in  December,  1885.  at  Mechlin  at  the  hands  of 
Archbishop  Goosens.  On  June  24  he  was  raised  to  the  priest- 
hood at  Louvain  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  Van  den  Branden  de  Reeth, 
from  whom  he  had  also  received  in  the  same  college  subdeacon- 
ship  and  deaconship  respectively  in  June  and  December  of  the 
previous  year.  Two  months  after  his  priestly  ordinaton  he  set 
out  for  America  with  Father  van  den  Broeck,  arriving  at  Helena 
September  19,  1887,  where  he  was  attached  to  the  Cathedral. 

His  first  missionary  duty  was  to  attend  Wickes,  the  Boulder 
and  Missouri  Valleys  and  also  Marysville.  He  was  appointed 
principal  of  St.  Aloysius  Select  School  for  Boys,  teaching  the 
highest  grade  himself  for  one  year.  With  the  arrival  among  us 
of  the  Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd — of  whom  we  shall  give  a 
more  detailed  account  a  little  further  on — he  was  entrusted  with 
the  spiritual  care  of  that  new  institution  and  shortly  after  to  him 
fell  also  the  charge  of  St.  Helena's  Church.  Father  C.  Follet  is 
a  fine,  tall  well-built  man,  an  earnest  worker,  as  well  as  a  fluent 
and  pleasing  speaker. 

A  new  church  on  the  west  part  of  the  city  is  also  contemplated, 
a  convenient  site  having  been  donated  by  a  non-Catholic  gentle- 
man, the  lamented  Col.  C.  A.  Broadwater. 

By  way  of  complement,  we  append  here  the  following  figures 
taken  from  the  books  of  the  Cathedral  and  exhibiting  the  number 
of  baptisms  and  marriages  had  in  the  city  of  Helena  and  all  the 
outlying  stations  the  last  three  years: 

Baptisms         Marriages 

1889    252  40 

1890    238  38 

1891    259  48 

To  the  above  are  to  be  added  101  baptisms  and  18  marriages 
celebrated  in  the  Livingston  district  and  recorded  in  the  books 
of  the  Livingston  Church.  Also  39  baptisms  and  9  marriages 
had  in  Miles  City,  Glendive  and  Billings,  which  are  entered  in 
the  Miles  City  Church  records. 

CEMETERIES. 

What  has  been  said  in  this  chapter  completes  the  record  of  all 
our  churches  in  Montana.  But  as  in  the  eyes  of  Catholicity 
resting  places   for  the  dead  are  no  less  necessary  and  no  less 


452        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

sacred  than  places  of  worship  for  the  living,  it  is  but  proper  that 
we  should  add  here  also  a  word  about  our  cemeteries. 

The  cemetery  owned  by  the  Helena  Church  and  that  as  well 
belonging  to  the  church  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  Missoula,  have 
already  been  referred  to  in  our  chronicle.  Besides  these  two,  the 
other  Catholic  communities  that  have  cemeteries  are  the  follow- 
ing: Billings,  Boulder  Valley,  Lewistown,  Livingston,  Miles  City 
and  Missouri  Valley  on  the  east  side.  On  the  west  side:  Ana- 
conda, Butte  and  Frenchtown. 

The  churches  of  Benton  and  Deer  Lodge,  properly  speaking, 
have  no  cemetery  of  their  own,  though  grounds  are  reserved  for 
them  in  the  common  town  cemetery  wherein  to  bury  their  dead. 

The  plot  for  the  Boulder  Valley  cemetery  was  donated  by 
Michael  Quinn,  as  he  had  donated  likewise  the  site  for  the  church, 
while  N.  Oualette  gave  the  ground  for  the  Lewistown  cemetery. 

Two  of  these  resting  places  for  our  faithful  departed  have 
been  consecrated,  the  Boulder  Valley  cemetery  and  that  of  Miles 
City.  But  the  former  has  since  been  desecrated  by  the  interment 
therein  of  remains  excluded  by  the  Church  from  hallowed 
ground.  Hence  the  only  consecrated  cemetery  in  Montana  is 
that  of  Miles  City. 

We  now  return  to  Helena  to  take  up  and  bring  to  a  close  what 
there  still  remains  of  its  history. 


"^^"•wM^-^tki*  _   ■ 


:z  <&?■:■■ 


Holy  Family  Church,  Three  Forks 


■"  "'  '■'■  '■    ■■ 


St.  Julian's  Church,  Glendive 


Chapter  XXV. 

FATHER    CAMILLUS    IMODA.       FATHER    JAMES    BOUCHARD.       HIS 
EMINENCE     CARDINAL     JAMES     GIBBONS     IN     HELENA. 
MISSIONS    BY    THE    REDEMPTORIST    FATHERS. 

THE  first  event  that  we  must  chronicle  in  opening  this  chapter 
is  a  sad  one,  namely,  the  death  of  Father  Camillus  Imoda, 
which  occurred  at  the  Episcopal  residence  in  the  night  of  June 
17  and  18,  1886. 

Father  Imoda  had  returned  to  Helena  in  the  fall  of  1883  to 
assist  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Brondel  in  the  discharge  of  parish  and 
missionary  duties  at  the  Cathedral.  His  health  had  been  impaired 
by  exposure  and  the  many  hardships  he  had  endured  on  the 
Indian  Missions  and,  as  a  consequence,  for  some  years  back  he 
had  become  subject  to  occasional  attacks  of  inflammatory 
rheumatism.  These  caused  him  at  times  intense  pain,  yet  he 
never  relented  in  the  performance  of  duty  and,  notwithstanding 
his  sufferings,  he  was  always  ready  to  indulge  in  an  innocent 
joke. 

The  Sunday  that  preceded  his  death  as  he  was  the  only  priest 
at  the  Cathedral,  he  attended  to  all  the  services  alone,  that  is, 
after  hearing  several  confessions,  he  read  the  eight  o'clock  Mass 
and  sang  the  late  Mass  at  10.30,  preaching  at  both  Masses.  He 
presided  at  Sunday  School,  held  from  two  to  three  in  the  after- 
noon and  also  gave  an  instruction  to  the  children  and  officiated 
again  at  Vespers  and  Benediction  in  the  evening.  /  will  come  to 
thee  as  a  thief,  and  thou  shalt  not  knozv  at  what  hour  I  will  come 
to  thee*  was  the  text  of  his  evening  instruction,  the  fourth  and 
last  for  the  day,  as  well  as  the  last  of  his  life. 

The  following  Thursday,  in  the  forenoon,  he  spent  some  hours 
with  the  architects  and  contractors  of  the  new  Episcopal  resi- 
dence, laying  out  the  grounds,  examining  plans,  etc.,  and  attended 
in  the  afternoon  to  some  business  in  town.     Toward  evening  he 

*  Apoc.  Ill,  3. 


454        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

appeared  to  be  suffering  more  than  usual  and  consulted  Dr. 
Morris,  who  prescribed  some  stimulating  liniment  to  relieve  the 
pain.  Later  on,  the  same  evening,  he  complained  of  his  pain  to 
Brother  Megazzini,  who  made  the  remark.  "Father,  it  may 
strike  the  heart."  "As  God  wills,"  replied  Father  Imoda  with  a 
smile. 

He  had  retired  to  rest  when  Father  Pauwelyn  came  to  him 
shortly  after  10  o'clock  and  the  two  Fathers  were  together  for  a 
while,  hearing  each  other's  confession.  This  was  the  last  time 
he  was  seen  alive. 

Knowing  well  that  the  Father  needed  rest,  his  not  rising  in 
the  morning  at  the  usual  hour  for  Mass  created  no  apprehension 
on  the  good  Brother's  mind.  Later  on,  however,  as  repeated 
calls  and  knocks  at  the  Father's  door  elicited  no  response,  the 
Brother  became  alarmed.  He  now  called  the  architect  of  the 
Bishop's  House,  who  stood  only  a  few  yards  off  giving  directions 
to  the  workmen  and  the  two  raised  up  the  sash  of  the  front 
window  of  the  Father's  room,  the  door  being  locked  from  the 
inside,  to  explore  the  situation.  On  first  seeing  the  Father  they 
thought  he  was  sleeping,  but  he  lay  on  his  cot  cold  in  death, 
though  his  countenance  bore  the  peaceful  expression  of  one 
asleep. 

The  sad  news  spread  through  the  city  quickly  and  was  a  shock 
to  the  whole  community.  On  the  body  being  examined  by  Dr. 
Morris  and  other  physicians,  the  immediate  cause  of  the  Father's 
death  became  apparent.  A  clot  of  blood  had  been  forming  near 
the  heart  and  now  becoming  detached  from  the  spot  that  held 
it,  closed  the  artery  like  a  plug,  preventing  circulation.  In  the 
opinion  of  the  doctors,  death  was  instantaneous  and  compara- 
tively painless. 

The  body  was  embalmed  and  lay  in  state  in  the  Bishop's  resi- 
dence for  several  days.  The  Father's  obsequies,  held  June  22, 
were  attended  by  most  of  the  clergy  of  the  Diocese  and  by  as 
many  of  the  faithful  as  could  crowd  into  the  Cathedral.  The 
remains  were  laid  to  rest  in  a  brick  vault  in  the  rear  of  the  church 
and  over  the  one  which  contained  the  body  of  Father  Philip 
Rappagliosi.  Thus,  these  two  missionaries  of  the  Blackfeet 
Indians  lie  at  rest  in  the  same  crypt  beside  each  other,  while  two 
marble  tablets  on  the  east  wall  of  the  sacristy  and  just  above 


FATHERS  I  MO  DA  AND  BOUCHARD  455 

them,  perpetuate  their  memory  among  the  living.  The  tablets 
have  been  placed  there  by  order  and  at  the  expense  of  the  Rt. 
Rev.  Bishop.* 

We  need  not  give  any  extended  notice  of  Father  C.  Imoda, 
after  all  we  have  said  of  him  in  our  chronicle.  He  was  known 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  Montana  as  one  of  the 
pioneers  of  the  Northwest,  his  efficient  missionary  labors  among 
the  Indians  and  the  whites  having  endeared  him  alike  to  both 
the  former  and  the  latter  and  gained  him  the  reverence  and  love 
of  everyone. 

Of  a  respectable  family  and  one  of  several  brothers  he  was 
born  in  Turin,  Italy,  November  29,  1829,  and  entered  the  Society 
of  Jesus,  April  22,  1854,  in  which  he  had  been  preceded  by  his 
brother  Henry,  at  one  time  Superior  of  the  Jesuit  Missions  in 
California.  He  made  his  novitiate  at  Massa-Carrara,  in  the 
Duchy  of  Modena,  where  we  became  first  acquainted  with  him  in 
1855.  Having  asked  to  be  sent  to  the  Indian  Missions  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  he  left  Italy  soon  after  and  rounding  Cape 
Horn  on  a  sailing  vessel,  landed  in  California  after  a  six  months' 
voyage.  In  1859,  he  came  into  what  is  today  the  State  of 
Montana  and  here  he  lived  and  toiled  up  to  the  moment  that  the 
Master  bade  him  rest  from  his  labors. 

Father  C.  Imoda  was  one  of  the  few  members  of  the  human 
family  of  whom  it  is  said :  sortiti  sunt  animam  bonam.  He  was 
always  in  a  cheerful  frame  of  mind,  while  meekness  of  spirit 
and  gentleness  of  manner  appeared  to  be  with  him  a  second 
nature.  In  the  many  years  we  lived  with  him  we  never  saw  his 
remarkably  calm  temper  ruffled  by  even  as  much  as  a  ripple.  But 
whilst  meekness  and  cheerfulness  appeared  to  be  the  character- 
istics of  his  happy  disposition,  his  fidelity  and  constancy  in  the 
performance  of  duty,  no  less  than  exactness  to  the  smallest  detail 
in  his  every  action,  were  admired  even  by  worldly  people. 
Father  C.  Imoda  is  gone  to  his  rest,  but  he  still  lives  among  us 
in  his  work  and  the  examples  of  his  virtues. 

Shortly  after  the  sad  event  just  recorded,  Father  James 
Bouchard,  so  well  known  all  over  the  Pacific  Coast  as  a  zealous 
missioner  and  eloquent  speaker,  arrived  in  Helena,  having  come 

*  JJlese  two  bodJes  were  removed  recently  to  the  cemetery  attached  to  Mt 
St.  Michael's,  a  Jesuit  seminary  near  Spokane,  Wash. 


456        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

at  the  invitation  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
retreats  and  missions  throughout  the  Diocese.  He  commenced 
his  apostolic  labors  by  opening  July  4  a  ten  days'  mission  in  the 
Cathedral.  He  then  passed  to  other  places,  spending  two  months 
and  a  half  in  this  ministry  and  meeting,  through  God's  goodness 
and  mercy,  with  gratifying  results  wherever  he  labored.  He 
returned  a  year  after  and  spent  several  weeks  among  our  people 
reaping,  with  God's  blessing,  no  less  fruit  from  his  preaching 
than  he  had  on  the  previous  occasion. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  following  October  Helena  was  favored 
by  the  presence  of  a  Prince  of  the  Church,  His  Eminence  James 
Cardinal  Gibbons,  Archbishop  of  Baltimore.  It  had  become 
known  that  His  Eminence  would  pass  through  Montana  some- 
time in  the  fall,  on  his  way  to  Portland,  Oregon,  to  confer  the 
sacred  Pallium  on  His  Grace  William  Gross,  the  Metropolitan 
of  that  See.  Bishop  Brondel  invited  the  Cardinal  to  rest  awhile 
in  Helena  during  his  long  journey  to  the  coast.  He  consented, 
reaching  Helena  on  the  evening  train,  October  4,  with  Dr. 
Chapelle  of  St.  Matthew's  Church,  Washington,  D.  C,  as  his 
traveling  companion. 

Met  at  the  depot  by  a  committee  of  gentlemen  of  the  congre- 
gation, the  Cardinal  was  driven  to  the  Episcopal  residence.  As 
it  is  wont  to  happen  on  occasions  out  of  the  ordinary  the  smooth- 
ness of  the  proceedings  was  disturbed  somewhat  through  the 
misplacing  of  the  luggage  of  the  travelers. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  Cathedral  had  been  filled  to  capacity  with 
expectant  people,  all  anxiously  waiting  for  the  appearance  of 
the  Cardinal.  His  Eminence  finally  recovered  his  valise  and 
clad  in  his  cardinalitial  robes  soon  appeared  within  the  sanctuary. 
His  canonical  reception  over,  he  was  introduced  to  the  vast 
assembly  by  Bishop  Brondel  in  a  few  choice  words.  His 
Eminence  replied  in  a  brief  address. 

Having  returned  to  the  Episcopal  residence,  the  Hon.  Martin 
Maginnis,  on  behalf  of  the  Helena  congregation,  greeted  the 
Cardinal  with  an  address  of  welcome,  both  eloquent  and  hearty : 

These  mountains  and  valleys  in  which  we  receive  you  are  not 
strangers  to  the  Church  which  you  represent.  Its  zealous  mission- 
aries, who  have  explored  every  range  of  mountains,  crossed  every 
desert  and  traversed  every  sea  in  the  world,  did  not  leave  these 


FATHERS  IMODA  AND  BOUCHARD  457 

wilds  alone  to  their  savage  inhabitants.  They  were  here  before  us 
all ;  of  the  first  comers  they  were  the  first ;  of  all  old-timers  they  were 
the  oldest.  They  came  not  in  search  of  gold  and  silver  nor  of  gain, 
not  for  the  cattle  on  the  hills  or  the  sheep  in  the  fold,  but  inspired 
by  the  love  of  God,  and  guided  by  the  Star  of  Bethlehem  which  still 
shines  in  pious  hearts,  above  the  clouds  of  error,  unbelief  and  world- 
liness,  came  to  bear  the  blessings  of  religion  to  the  benighted  hearts 
of  their  fellow-men.  Even  in  this  material  age  when  the  love  of  gold 
and  place  and  honor  are  the  ruling  motives,  the  worst  of  us  can 
recognize  the  higher  natures  and  sublimer  aspirations  which  sacrifice 
the  selfishness  of  the  heart  on  the  altar  of  humanity. 

His  Eminence  listened  intently  to  the  address  and  was  noticed 
to  nod  approvingly  time  and  again  at  this  or  that  allusion  of  the 
speaker  to  the  influence  of  Catholicity  on  American  progress. 
After  the  Cardinal's  reply  filled  with  kind  words  and  redolent  of 
patriotism,  the  company  dispersed  to  congregate  again  the  next 
day,  when  a  formal  and  largely-attended  reception  was  tendered 
the  distinguished  visitor.  His  Eminence  started  westward  on 
the  evening  train,  leaving  after  him  pleasing  and  grateful  recol- 
lections and  being  himself  not  only  favorably  impressed  with 
Helena  and  her  people,  but  to  quote  his  own  words,  "struck 
with  the  substantial  evidence  of  their  enterprise." 

The  visit  of  Cardinal  Gibbons  was  followed  by  what  may  be 
truly  designated  as  two  years  of  grace,  and  not  for  Helena  alone, 
but  for  the  whole  of  Montana.  A  band  of  zealous  Redemptorist 
Fathers,  led  by  Father  McLoughlin,  arrived  from  St.  Louis, 
Mo.,  and  for  over  two  months  were  engaged  in  missionary  work 
throughout  the  whole  Diocese,  commencing  with  a  two-weeks' 
mission  preached  in  Helena.  The  year  after  another  band  of 
the  same  Order,  led  by  Father  McLoughlin,  came  to  give  a 
"renewal"  of  the  preceding  mission.  They  cultivated  the  same 
field,  and  their  labors,  through  God's  grace,  were  attended  on 
both  occasions  with  most  happy  results. 

Father  McLoughlin,  C.SS.R.,  as  well  as  Father  Bouchard, 
S.  J.,  have  since  passed  away.  May  their  souls  rest  in  peace; 
and  may  likewise  those  of  our  Montana  people  who  have  been 
benefited  by  the  zeal  and  work  of  the  two  missionaries  never 
forget  these  benefactors  of  their  souls. 


Chapter  XXVI. 

THE  ORDER  OF  THE  GOOD  SHEPHERD  IN   HELENA.      BISHOP 
brondel's   SILVER   JUBILEE. 

FEBRUARY  12,  1889,  saw  the  establishment  in  Helena  of 
a  new  Sisterhood,  that  is,  of  a  house  of  what  is  commonly 
known  as  the  Order  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  one  of  the  brightest 
among  the  many  precious  jewels  that  encircle  the  brow  of  the 
Spouse  of  Christ  on  earth,  His  Church  Divine. 

For  those  of  our  readers  not  familiar  with  the  history  of  the 
Order  we  give  here  an  outline  of  its  origin  and  its  object. 

Our  Lord  came  on  earth  to  save  sinners.  This  was  His  mis- 
sion. Of  all  sinners,  however,  women  fallen  from  virtue  seem 
to  have  been  special  objects  of  His  tender  mercies,  as  appears 
from  the  Magdalen,  the  Samaritan  woman,  and  the  other  woman 
whom  He  delivered  from  her  accusers.  While  walking  on 
earth,  He  conversed  with  women  on  but  few  occasions,  yet  on 
three  of  these  few  occasions,  as  we  read  in  the  Gospel,  He  spoke 
with  women  of  this  unfortunate  class. 

Following  in  His  footsteps  and  imitating  the  example  of  her 
Divine  Bridegroom,  the  Church  in  all  ages  has  ever  looked  on 
fallen  women  with  tender  solicitude  and  the  greatest  compas- 
sion. But  it  was  reserved  to  Blessed  John  Eudes,  who  has  been 
raised  to  the  honors  of  the  altar  by  Christ's  Vicar  on  earth,  to 
institute  a  Religious  Order  of  women,  whose  aim  and  principal 
object  should  be  to  devote  their  lives  to  reclaiming  from  way- 
wardness the  fallen  of  their  sex,  and  forming  them  to  habits  of- 
virtue  and  Christian  piety. 

By  its  very  nature,  chastity,  more  than  any  other  moral  vir- 
tue, shrinks  from  what  is  tainted  by  the  contrary  vice.  This 
may  partly  account  for  the  lack  of  sympathy  manifested  towards 
the  outcasts  of  society.  Strange  to  say,  women  are  even  less 
compassionate  than  men  in  this  matter.  They  cannot  bear  to 
have  as  much  as  the  shadow  of  one  of  their  fallen  sisters  cross 


GOOD  SHEPHERD  NUNS  IN  HELENA  459 

their  path,  and  this,  even  when  the  latter  show  signs  of  repent- 
ance and  strive  to  lead  a  better  life. 

But  the  spouse  of  the  Heavenly  Bridegroom,  in  her  spotless 
robe  of  purity,  can  afford  to  be  merciful  without  risk  of  tarnish- 
ing its  beauty  and  luster,  she  can  stoop  down  and  reach  her 
helping  hand  to  the  fallen,  and  yet  remain  herself  firm  and 
unshaken  in  her  integrity,  clean  in  mind  and  body  in  the  pres- 
ence of  what  has  been  defiled. 

The  circumstances  that  led  to  the  institution  of  the  Order  were 
the  following:  One  day  while  Blessed  John  Eudes  was  return- 
ing from  church  with  some  friends,  a  pious  woman,  Magdalen 
Lamy,  who  took  great  interest  in  poor  sinners,  met  him  and 
cried  out  to  him  and  his  companions :  "Oh,  Reverend  Father, 
and  you,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  wish  you  would  pray  a  little 
less  and  think  instead  of  some  plan  to  shelter  your  unfortunate 
penitents.  I  am  a  poor  woman,  and  if  I  am  obliged  to  abandon 
them  it  will  not  be  my  fault,  but  yours."  The  good  woman's 
appeal  had  its  effect.  The  party  before  separating  resolved  to 
establish  a  house  of  refuge. 

A  dwelling  being  secured,  some  ladies  who  were  unmarried 
took  charge  of  watching  over  the  penitents.  One  of  them  of 
maturer  age,  Madame  Morin,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
band  as  matron.  The  house  was  opened  at  Caen  in  Normandy, 
France,  December  8,  1641. 

Things,  however,  did  not  go  on  satisfactorily.  With  all  her 
piety,  the  matron  was  willful  and  hard-headed,  and  the  Blessed 
John  had  more  difficulties  with  her  and  the  other  ladies  than  in 
governing  the  penitents.  Hence,  he  came  to  the  conclusion  of 
founding  a  Religious  Community  to  carry  on  the  work. 

When  his  plans  became  known,  the  ladies  who  had  charge  of 
the  new  institution  were  indignant.  They  looked  upon  the  new 
project  as  a  reproach  to  themselves,  and  without  giving  the  holy 
man  any  notice  of  their  intention,  left  the  house,  taking  along 
whatever  belonged  to  them.  And  now  two  young  girls,  one  of 
them  a  niece  of  Blessed  John  and  only  fourteen,  and  the  other 
very  young  also,  had  for  a  time  the  full  charge  of  managing 
the  house  and  the  penitents. 

Later  on,  Venerable  Mother  Patin  and  two  other  Nuns  of 
the  Visitation  Convent  were  assigned  by  the  Bishop  of  the  place 


4<5o        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

to  form  a  new  Community.  The  two  young  girls  remained  as 
novices,  and  they  were  soon  joined  by  a  number  of  other  young 
women.  In  1651  the  Bishop  gave  canonical  institution  to  the 
Sisterhood,  allowing  its  members  to  bind  themselves  by  vows. 
But  it  was  not  till  1666  that  the  new  Order,  with  the  Constitu- 
tion drawn  up  by  the  servant  of  God,  received  the  solemn 
approval  of  the  Holy  See.  Sixteen  Sisters  made  then  their 
solemn  vows,  adding  a  fourth  one,  as  approved  by  the  Church, 
of  devoting  their  lives  to  the  care  of  the  penitents. 

The  Sisterhood  soon  spread  into  various  parts  of  Europe. 
Until  1834  its  convents  were  independent  of  one  another.  But 
from  that  year  on  the  House  of  Angers  obtained  from  Gregory 
XVI  the  authorization  to  exercise  a  generalate  over  all  the  con- 
vents it  might  found.  Thus  140  foundations  in  Europe  and 
America  recognize  today  the  Angers  Convent  as  their  Mother- 
house. 

In  the  Order  of  Our  Lady  of  Charity  of  the  Good  Shepherd 
there  are  three  classes  of  Nuns,  namely,  the  Choir  Sisters,  the 
Lay  Sisters  and  the  Outdoor  Sisters,  all  living  in  common.  The 
Sisterhood  enjoys  the  privilege  of  being  cloistered,  but  some 
members  of  each  convent  are  allowed  to  go  out  to  attend  to 
necessary  business,  such  as  soliciting  work,  contributions  and 
the  like,  whence  their  name  of  Outdoor  Sisters.  Their  religious 
garb  or  habit  differs  somewhat  during  life,  but  at  death  they 
are  all  clothed  and  buried  in  the  habit  of  the  Choir  Sisters,  which 
is  spotless  white,  to  symbolize  the  purity  of  their  lives. 

In  the  true  spirit  of  their  holy  Founder  and  to  carry  out  more 
fully  his  intentions  and  object  to  the  class  of  the  penitents  is 
added  another,  namely,  of  young  girls  exposed  to  the  danger  of 
losing  their  innocence.  Thus,  there  are  four  classes  of  persons 
in  the  Sisters'  keeping,  that  is,  the  Magdalens  or  Penitents,  who 
follow  the  religious  life,  observing  the  Carmelite  Rule,  ordinary 
penitents,  reformatory  inmates,  and,  lastly,  very  young  girls 
who  are  confided  to  the  Nuns'  care  for  preservation. 

With  the  Order  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  Blessed  John  Eudes 
founded  also  a  Religious  Community  of  men,  who  take  their 
name  from  him  and  are  known  as  Eudist  Fathers. 

With  this  brief  sketch  of  the  Order,  its  origin  and  object 
before  him,  the  reader  will  better  understand  the  boon  which 


GOOD  SHEPHERD  NUNS  IN  HELENA  461 

Bishop  Brondel  bestowed  on  Helena  when  he  invited  a  Com- 
munity of  Good  Shepherd  Sisters  to  establish  themselves  here. 

Quarters  for  them  had  been  previously  secured  by  the  pur- 
chase of  grounds  and  a  neat  brick  residence  on  the  corner  of 
Ninth  Avenue  and  Hoback  Street,  where  they  were  installed 
the  day  of  their  arrival.  The  new  Community  was  composed 
of  six  members  with  Mother  Margaret  at  the  head.  Very  soon 
the  premises  were  found  too  small,  and  their  capacity  has  already 
been  enlarged  a  couple  of  times.  It  is  further  becoming  every 
day  more  and  more  apparent  that  their  present  location  will 
prove  utterly  inadequate  before  long,  and  that  it  will  have  to  be 
replaced  by  a  more  convenient  site.* 

But  it  is  indeed  much  to  be  regretted  that  in  such  an  enlight- 
ened and  liberal-minded  community  as  Helena  there  should  have 
been  found  a  scribe  who  could  out-pharisee  the  Pharisees  of  old 
by  stoning,  not  the  sinning  woman,  as  would  they,  but  the  brave 
and  noble  women  who  sacrifice  their  own  lives  to  uplift  the 
members  of  their  sex  from  the  thraldom  of  sin  and  degradation. 
The  stand  taken  by  the  Helena  Journal  (since  happily  defunct) 
in  the  Linnie  Connor  incident,  its  threats,  its  appeals  to  passion 
and  its  utter  disregard  of  parental  authority  were  all  a  piece  of 
Pharisaical  hypocrisy.  "If  Connor" — the  father  who  had  placed 
a  daughter  of  his  in  the  keeping  of  the  Sisters  of  the  Good  Shep- 
herd— "escapes  a  dose  of  tar  and  feathers,  he  will  be  playing  to 
good  luck,"  wrote  the  Journal.  And  again:  "The  girl  will  be 
released  from  the  House  of  the  Good  Shepherd  or  the  walls  of 
that  establishment  will  come  down."  It  was  not,  however,  the 
House  of  the  Good  Shepherd  that  the  Journal  pulled  down,  but 
its  own  concern,  which  is  now  a  thing  of  the  past. 

We  opened  the  preceding  chapter  by  recounting  a  sad  event, 
but  God  be  praised  for  enabling  us  to  close  the  present  one  with 
an  event  full  of  joy  and  festivity.  We  refer  to  the  twenty-fifth 
anniversary  of  Bishop  Brondel's  priestly  ordination,  or  his  Silver 
Jubilee  in  the  priesthood,  which  was  celebrated  December  17, 
1889.    It  was  indeed  a  red-letter  day  and  long  to  be  remembered. 

The  joyous  occasion  brought  together  all  the  clergy  of  the 

*  This  has  been  done  since,  the  institution  being  now  established  on  the 
west  side  of  the  city  where,  with  ampler  and  more  desirable  grounds,  it  has 
also  larger  and  more  convenient  accommodations. 


462        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

Diocese,  ten  in  number,  and  nine  Regulars,  three  Redemptorist, 
and  six  Jesuit  Fathers.  The  religious  part  of  the  celebration 
began  with  solemn  Pontifical  Mass  at  10  o'clock,  the  Cathedral 
being  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity.  Father  McLoughlin, 
C.SS.R.,  preached  the  sermon,  a  masterly  treatment  of  his  sub- 
ject, "The  Catholic  Priesthood."  In  the  afternoon  the  pupils  of 
St.  Vincent's  Academy  rendered  an  excellent  program  in  honor 
of  His  Lordship,  and  at  the  thanksgiving  service  in  the  evening, 
appropriate  addresses  were  presented  to  him  by  the  Rev.  E.  W.  J. 
Lindesmith,  U.  S.  A.,  Chaplain  at  Fort  Keogh,  on  the  part  of 
the  clergy,  and  by  Hon.  Martin  Maginnis  on  the  part  of  the 
laity. 

The  religious  ceremonies  of  the  evening  were  followed  by  a 
general  reception  at  the  Episcopal  residence,  at  which  throng 
after  throng  of  callers  came  to  present  their  respects  and  con- 
gratulations to  His  Lordship.  Substantial  expression  of  devoted- 
ness  in  the  form  of  choice  and  valuable  presents  were  not  want- 
ing, among  which  may  be  mentioned  a  purse  of  $1,500,  made 
up  for  the  occasion  by  the  faithful  of  the  Diocese. 

One  of  the  features  of  the  day  was  also  a  brass  band  of 
youthful  Indian  players,  from  12  to  16  years  of  age,  who,  as 
related  in  Part  I,  had  come  to  the  Indian  School  of  St.  Ignatius 
to  do  honor  to  their  Bishop.  The  presence  of  those  dusky  lads, 
no  less  than  their  musical  proficiency  and  excellent  playing,  was, 
decidedly  a  pleasing  surprise  to  the  whole  community. 

A  few  words  now  by  way  of  resume  on  the  men  and  women 
who  have  helped  to  make  Montana  Church  history  in  the  period 
of  which  we  have  been  treating. 


Chapter  XXVII. 

NECROLOGY.       PRIESTLY  AND  RELIGIOUS  VOCATIONS. 
SOME    EXEMPLARY    CHRISTIANS. 

SEVERAL  of  the  departed  laborers  who  were  instrumental 
in  establishing  and  advancing  Catholicity  in  Montana  have 
been  duly  referred  to  in  the  course  of  this  narrative  as  required 
by  the  occasion.  Hence,  not  to  repeat  the  already  written,  we 
shall  now  mention  those  only  whose  death  has  not  yet  been 
recorded.* 

Fathers  and  Brothers  of  the  Society  of  Jesus. 

The  first  of  the  number  is  Father  Peter  De  Vos,  whom  we 
have  met  coming  to  the  mountains  in  company  with  Lord  Stuart. 
He  resided  but  a  short  time  at  St.  Mary's,  whence  he  went  down 
to  the  lower  country  and  sometime  later  on  to  California.  He 
died  at  Santa  Clara,  April  17,  1859,  aged  sixty-nine,  having 
passed  thirty-four  years  in  the  Society. 

The  second  in  order  is  Father  Louis  Vercruysse,  who  labored 
for  some  time  at  St.  Ignatius,  whence  in  1863  he  was  transferred 
to  California.  A  couple  of  years  or  so  after  he  returned  to 
Belgium,  his  native  country,  and  there  ended  his  days. 

On  the  news  of  his  death  being  received  at  St.  Ignatius,  Mass 
was  offered  up  for  the  repose  of  his  soul,  all  the  Indians  of  the 
village  receiving  Holy  Communion  in  his  behalf.  One  of  their 
number  appeared  exceedingly  surprised  at  the  news  of  the 
Father's  death.  On  being  asked  the  reason  of  his  unwonted 
surprise,  "I  did  not  know,"  said  he,  "that  you  Black  Robes  also 
die."  On  being  further  asked  how  he  came  to  fancy  that  Black 
Robes  did  not  die,  "Because,"  said  he,  "you  keep  for  yourselves 
the  good  medicine  which  holds  death  away  from  you,  whereas, 

*  No  death  among  the  secular  clergy  of  the  Diocese  occurred  prior  to  1891'. 
Some  of  them,  on  the  field  at  that  time,  have  died  since,  and  they,  as  well 
as  the  other  laborers,  also  on  this  field  at  that  date  and  likewise  now 
departed,  will  be  duly  mentioned. 


464        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

to  us  poor  Indians  you  give  medicine  that  is  itenemiis  (worth- 
less) and  lets  us  die." 

Whether  that  redskin  was  sincere  or  not  in  his  professed 
ignorance,  we  cannot  say.  If  sincere,  he  must  not  have  heard 
of  the  death  of  Father  Zerbinatti,  which  had  occurred  some 
years  before  at  St.  Mary's  .  But  we  are  tempted  to  suspect  that, 
though  a  benighted  son  of  the  forest,  he  also  had  somehow  a 
touch  of  the  spirit  of  the  "evil  one,"  which  prompts  so  many 
white-skinned  cousins  of  his  to  pick  at  and  revile  the  priesthood. 

Third  on  the  list  is  Father  James  A.  Vanzina,  who,  as  we 
have  seen,  did  missionary  work  at  St.  Ignatius,  Hell's  Gate, 
Frenchtown  and  Virginia  City.  From  Montana  he  went  to 
Colville,  Washington,  where  he  labored  with  zeal  and  efficiency 
for  several  years.  He  slept  in  the  Lord  the  morning  of  June 
19,  1880,  and  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  Mission  church,  near  Col- 
ville. Whites  and  Indians  alike  mourned  heartily  his  passing 
away,  as  all  looked  on  Father  Louis,  the  name  they  knew  him 
by,  as  a  man  of  God. 

Father  James  A.  Vanzina  was  born  in  Lombardy,  Italy, 
August  15,  1823,  and  of  his  fifty-seven  years  of  life,  twenty-six 
were  devoted  to  God's  service  in  the  Society  of  Jesus,  which  he 
entered  January  15,  1855.     He  came  to  Montana  in  1862. 

Father  Gregory  Gazzoli,  whom  we  met  at  the  Cceur  d'Alene 
Mission,  at  St.  Ignatius  and  also  at  St.  Peter's,  was  a  Roman, 
and  came  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  1855.  His  missionary  life 
was  mostly  devoted  to  the  spiritual  and  temporal  welfare  of  the 
Cceur  d'Alenes  Indians,  and  from  their  midst  he  went  to  his 
reward,  May  10,  1882.  He  was  born  in  the  Eternal  City, 
August  6,  1837,  and  lived  forty-five  years  of  his  life  in  the 
Society. 

Father  Joseph  Giorda  ended  his  days  also  at  the  Cceur  d'Alene 
Mission,  his  death  having  occurred  August  4,  1822,  not  quite 
three  months  after  the  passing  away  of  Father  Gazzoli.  Born 
at  Cumbeviana,  in  the  Province  of  Turin,  Italy,  March  19,  1823, 
he  entered  the  Society  of  Jesus  March  29,  1845.  Shortly  after 
his  ordination  to  the  priesthood,  he  went  as  a  missioner  to  the 
island  of  Corsica,  whence  he  was  recalled  a  year  or  so  later  and 
sent  to  the  Seminary  of  Bertinoro,  in  Emilia,  Italy.  He  there 
taught  dogmatic  and  moral  theology,  being  at  the  same  time  the 


SOME  EXEMPLARY  CHRISTIANS  465 

spiritual  director  of  the  institution.  In  1854  he  returned  to 
Corsica,  but  his  departure  from  the  Seminary  of  Bertinoro  was 
so  much  regretted  that  scarcely  one  year  afterwards  he  had  to 
return.  There  he  remained  till  1859,  when  he  was  sent  to  the 
Missions  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  reaching  his  destination  the 
following  year,   i860. 

After  Father  De  Smet,  our  Indian  Missions  are  indebted  to 
no  one  more  than  to  Father  Giorda,  as  he  can  be  called  in  all 
truth,  their  second  founder.  He  took  charge  of  them  at  a  most 
critical  period,  during  which  he  governed  them  with  great  zeal, 
foresight,  tact  and  self-abnegation,  a  model  Superior,  as  well  as 
an  example  of  Christian  virtue,  winning  the  esteem  and  love  of 
all  alike,  prelate,  priest,  layman,  white  and  Indian. 

The  Indians  called  Father  Giorda  Mil'kokan,  which  means 
round  head.  But  while  conspicuously  so,  physiologically,  he  was 
a  remarkably  square-headed  man  otherwise;  and,  like  Father 
De  Smet,  he  will  ever  stand  out  as  one  of  the  most  prominent 
figures  in  the  history  of  Catholicity,  not  in  Montana  alone,  but 
throughout  the  whole  of  this  northwestern  country. 

Another  of  the  pioneer  missionaries  in  Montana  was  Father 
Urban  Grassi.  Stricken  down  by  pneumonia  at  Umatilla, 
Oregon,  he  went  to  his  Maker  March  21,  1890,  after  a  brief 
illness.  He  was  one  of  the  most  efficient  and  most  indefatigable 
workers  on  the  Indian  Missions.  Born  at  Girola,  in  the  Province 
of  Voghera,  Italy,  November  25,  1830,  he  entered  the  Society  of 
Jesus  December  5,  1850,  and  three  years  later  came  to  America, 
spending  a  couple  of  years  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.  In  1855  he  went 
to  California,  and  there  he  taught  till  1861,  when  he  came  to 
the  mountains. 

Father  Grassi  had  charge  of  the  Mission  of  St.  Ignatius  for 
several  years,  and  for  some  three  years  also  of  all  the  Missions 
in  the  capacity  of  Vice-Superior.  To  him  is  due  the  credit  of 
building  the  first  two  churches  for  the  whites  in  Montana,  and 
of  sending  Jesuit  Fathers  to  both  Helena  and  Virginia  City. 
The  last  years  of  his  missionary  life  were  spent  among  the 
Indians  along  the  Columbia  and  at  the  Umatilla  Mission,  whence, 
as  said  above,  he  went  to  receive  the  crown  won  by  his  apostolic 
labors. 

Of  the  departed  Brothers  of  the  Society  who  lived  for  a  time 


466        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA  ' 

ill  Montana  during  the  period  of  our  history,  and  who  within 
the  same  period  have  ended  their  course  whilst  on  duty  else- 
where, four  are  still  to  be  mentioned. 

The  first  is  Charles  Huet,  one  of  the  founders  of  St.  Mary's 
Mission,  as  well  as  one  of  the  first  to  receive  the  reward  of  his 
toil,  having  finished  his  course  comparatively  young.  He  died 
at  the  Cceur  d'Alene  Mission,  May  31,  1856,  aged  fifty-one  and 
after  living  twenty-one  years  in  the  Society. 

The  three  others  are  Francis  Huybrechts,  Michael  McGean 
and  Natalis  Savio.  Of  these,  the  first  two  passed  some  years  at 
St.  Ignatius,  whence  they  were  transferred  to  the  Mission  of 
the  Sacred  Heart  among  the  Cceur  d'Alenes,  and  there  both 
ended  their  days,  Francis  Huybrechts,  April  6,  1872,  at  the  ripe 
age  of  seventy-five,  Michael  McGean,  October  28,  1877,  in  his 
sixty-fifth  year,  the  former  having  lived  thirty-eight,  the  latter 
forty-two  years  in  the  Society. 

Brother  Savio  resided  first  at  St.  Mary's,  then  for  a  while  at 
St.  Ignatius.  He  died  in  California  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven, 
January  19,  1891.  While  Brother  McGean  was  mostly  occupied 
in  farming  and  tending  stock,  Brother  Francis  Huybrechts  pos- 
sessed the  skill  of  a  trained  mechanic,  and  some  furniture  man- 
ufactured by  him  is  still  doing  today  good  service  at  St. 
Ignatius. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  they  were  one  and  all  good 
religious  men,  for  otherwise  they  could  not  have  endured  the 
privations  of  their  long  missionary  life  among  the  Indians.  It 
is  history,  however,  that  whilst  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  Brother 
Savio  wavered  in  his  vocation.  But  it  is  also  history  that  he 
soon  repented  his  error  and  inconstancy,  and  had  been  fifty- 
seven  years  a  Jesuit  Brother  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

One  and  all  may  these  pioneers  of  Catholicity  in  Montana 
rest  in  peace. 

Departed  Sisters. 

After  those  of  the  sterner  sex,  it  is  but  just  that  we  should 
recall  the  pioneer  workers  of  the  gentler  sex  also,  those  brave 
women  who  in  their  own  sphere  have  done  their  part  in  fur- 
thering the  cause  of  Catholicity  in  Montana,  and  who  also,  like 
the  former,  whether  on  duty  among  us  or  elsewhere,  have  ended 
their  course  during  the  period  of  our  chronicle. 


SOME  EXEMPLARY  CHRISTIANS  467 

The  death  of  Sisters  Paul  Miki  and  Remi,  of  the  Order  of 
Providence,  has  been  recorded  before.  The  following,  whose 
passing  away  is  now  to  be  mentioned,  were  all  members  of  the 
Leavenworth  Sisterhood. 

Sister  Cleophas  heads  the  list.  She  came  to  Montana  in  1872, 
and  finished  her  course  at  St.  John's  Hospital,  Helena,  Febru- 
ary 11,  1883.  She  was  a  hard  and  cheerful  worker,  and  the  first 
of  the  Order  to  die  in  our  midst. 

She  was  followed  a  year  after  by  Sister  Mary  Xavier,  who 
also  came  to  Montana  in  1872,  and  who,  after  doing  duty  at 
Helena  and  Deer  Lodge,  went  to  Butte,  whence  the  Heavenly 
Bridegroom,  with  hardly  any  premonition  of  her  good  fortune, 
summoned  her  to  Himself,  July  1,  1884.  She  will  be  remem- 
bered as  one  of  the  brave  Sisters  who  volunteered  to  nurse  the 
wounded  on  the  battlefield  of  Big  Hole. 

The  third  to  be  called  away  from  our  midst  was  Sister  Mary 
Paul,  who  slept  in  the  Lord  at  Deer  Lodge,  March  22,  1886;  a 
favorite  soul,  much  beloved  by  the  pupils  confided  to  her  care  at 
St.  Vincent's,  Helena,  and  at  St.  Mary's,  Deer  Lodge. 

Sister  Frances  De  Sales  is  still  mourned  by  companions  and 
pupils  at  St.  Vincent's  Academy,  whence  pneumonia  carried  her 
off  December  n,  1887,  after  a  very  brief  illness.  While  gifted, 
scholarly,  uncommonly  bright  and  refined,  as  well  as  a  favorite 
with  all  who  knew  her,  she  was,  above  all,  a  woman  of  solid 
piety  and  true  religious  spirit. 

The  last  of  the  Order  to  end  her  days  in  our  midst  before  the 
closing  year  of  our  narrative  was  Sister  Basilissa,  who  had  the 
happy  secret  of  winning  the  hearts  of  the  little  people  placed  in 
her  keeping.  Youthful  in  age,  but  mature  in  wisdom,  she  died 
in  Helena,  November  24,  1891. 

These  pious  and  noble  women  spent  part  of  their  precious 
lives  among  us,  teaching  our  youth,  nursing  our  sick,  and 
spreading  round  about  them  "the  sweet  odor  of  Christ"  by  the 
example  of  their  virtues.  Their  remains  repose  in  Helena  soil; 
and  who  knows  but,  instruments  as  they  were  of  so  many  heroic 
acts  of  religion  and  charity,  they  are  also  a  better  and  more 
stolid  foundation  for  the  city's  permanency  and  prosperity  than 
brick  and  stone,  nay,  than  even  silver  and  gold?    For,  after  all, 


468        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

it  is  not  on  mere  material  assets  alone  that  the  upbuilding  and 
prosperity  of  communities  depend. 

Another  still  to  be  mentioned  is  Sister  Donat,  nee  Marie  J. 
Cote,  of  the  Order  of  Providence,  although  she  came  to  Mon- 
tana only  to  die.  She  took  to  her  cot  the  day  of  her  arrival  at 
Missoula,  brought  down  by  that  dreadful  scourge,  the  smallpox, 
the  germs  of  which  she  carried  with  her  from  Montreal,  where 
the  distemper  was  raging  at  the  time  of  her  departure.  If  we 
grieved  beyond  expression  at  her  taking  away,  we  were  still 
more  edified  by  the  heroic  resignation  of  that  youthful  soul, 
tasting  bitter  death  with  a  smile.  She  was  only  a  few  days  past 
twenty-one  when,  September  19,  1885,  she  returned  to  her  Maker 
to  perpetuate  above  the  bloom  of  her  youth. 

Let  us  now  refer  to  the  departed  Sisters  who  labored  on  this 
field  previous  to  the  close  of  1891,  and  who  also  previous  to  the 
same  date,  or  shortly  after,  have  passed  away,  but  elsewhere 
than  in  Montana. 

Sister  Regina  has  already  been  referred  to  before,  and  to  her 
must  be  joined  several  other  members  of  the  same  Sisterhood,* 
namely,  Sisters  Bernard  Mary,  Helena,  Mary  Margaret  and 
Modesta,  who  followed  her  at  different  dates.  All  these  pioneer 
workers  of  the  gentler  sex  went  to  their  repose  outside  of  Mon- 
tana. So  did  also  Sister  Mary  Victor  of  the  Order  of  Prov- 
idence and  the  first  Superior  of  the  Missoula  Foundation,  who 
ended  her  course  at  Montreal,  August  3,  1879. 

May  they  all  rest  in  peace  and  may  perpetual  light  shine 
upon  them! 

The  places  left  vacant  by  these  pioneer  workers,  men  and 
women,  have  been  filled  by  new  recruits,  but  all,  so  far,  from 
foreign  climes,  and  the  same  distant  nurseries  that  have  supplied 
the  first  laborers  have  had  likewise  to  furnish  their  successors. 

Montana  is  perhaps  too  young  a  community  still  to  give  Levites 
to  the  altar  and  Religious  to  the  cloister.  As  with  the  date-palm, 
which  is  of  very  slow  growth  and  barren  of  fruit  in  other  but 
tropical  warmth,  so  with  vocations  to  the  priesthood  and  religious 
life.  They  are  slow  to  form,  and  do  not  germinate  save  in  a 
high  spiritual  temperature,  and  new  communities  have  not  been 

*  The  Sisters  of  Charity  of  Leavenworth. 


SOME  EXEMPLARY  CHRISTIANS  469 

shone  upon  by  the  sun  of  supernatural  charity  long  enough  to 
bear  this  precious  kind  of  fruit,  or  bring  it  to  maturity. 

Perhaps  also,  our  Montana  people  have  still  too  strong  a 
hankering  for  the  gold  and  silver  that  brought  them  into  the 
country.* 

With  regard  to  vocations,  we  find  no  one  called  to  the  priest- 
hood from  Montana  during  the  period  covered  by  our  narrative, 
except  the  Very  Rev.  P.  J.  Stockman,  of  Hollywood,  California, 
who  for  a  time  taught  school  in  the  Missouri  Valley  in  the  early 
sixties.  He  was  advised  and  persuaded  to  become  a  priest  by 
Father  Giorda,  who  discovered  in  the  young  man  qualifications 
that  well  fitted  him  for  the  high  calling.  Acting  on  the  advice 
given  him,  young  Stockman  went  to  California,  where  he  entered 
the  priesthood,  and  where  he  has  seen  active  service  in  the  min- 
istry ever  since. 

There  are  several,  however,  who  embraced  the  life  of  the 
Evangelical  Counsels ;  but,  with  the  exception  of  one,  though 
they  went  forth  from  Montana,  they  were  not  born  in  the  state. 
Three  of  the  number  belonged  to  the  sterner  sex  and  were  James 
Henneberry,  of  Beaverhead  County ;  Patrick  Harrick,  one  of  the 
early  Montana  miners;  and  John  Donnigan,  who  mined  for  some 
time  at  old  Diamond  City.  All  three  became  Coadjutor  Brothers 
of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  which  they  entered,  the  first,  August  16, 
1866;  the  second,  February  15,  1867;  and  the  last  mentioned, 
September  8,  1873.  v 

Of  the  gentler  sex,  the  first  to  follow  the  higher  life  of  the 
Counsels  was  Annie  Brown,  who  lived  for  some  time  at  Gold 
Creek,  Deer  Lodge  County,  where  her  father  conducted  a  store. 
She  first  attended  school  at  St.  Ignatius,  then  at  St.  Vincent's 
Academy,  Helena,  and  in  November,  1874,  joined  the  Sisters  of 
Leavenworth,  her  name  in  religion  being  Sister  Bernadette. 

Kate  Hawkes,  now  Sister  Laurentia,  entered  the  same  Com- 
munity some  two  years  after.  She  was  followed,  in  1887,  by 
Mary  Reynolds,  Sister  Mary  Remigius ;  and,  sometime  later  on, 
by  three  other  young  ladies,  Kate  and  Mary  Murphy,  two  sisters, 
and  M.  McAuliffe,  named  respectively  in  religion,  Sisters  Mary 
Ida,  Ivo  and  Bernard  Mary. 

*  Since  the  above  was  written  several  young  girls  of  Montana  have  entered 
our  local  communities,  and  a  number  of  Montana  boys  are  studying  for  the 
priesthood. 


470        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

Later  still,  two  other  young  ladies  entered  the  same  Sister- 
hood, Josephine  Miehle,  who  took  the  name  of  Sister  Mary 
Benedict,  and  Mary  Lynch,  whose  religious  life  closed  matured, 
when  hardly  opened,  for  she  died  when  still  a  novice,  and  made 
her  profession  on  her  deathbed  under  the  religious  name  of 
Sister  Mary  Basyl. 

Catherine  Caplice,  now  among  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
Sisters  Cecilia,  Mary,  Martha  and  Ursula,  who  joined  the 
Ursuline  Order,  and  also  Sister  Mary  Victor,  who  entered  the 
Holy  Cross  Community,  belong  likewise  to  the  select  band  that 
left  the  world  and  went  forth  from  Montana  to  serve  God  in 
religion. 

.  The  last  to  be  mentioned  is  Mary  Kelly,  who  was  born  in 
Nevada  Creek,  May  16,  1872,  and  joined  the  Sisters  of  Leaven- 
worth November  6,  1891.  Her  name  in  religion  is  Sister  Mary 
Sira.  She  is  the  very  first,  and  so  far,  the  only  Montana-born 
youth  who  has  been  called  to  embrace  the  Counsels.  A  young 
man,  born  also  in  Montana,  became  a  religious  at  an  earlier 
date,  but  did  not  persevere  in  his  vocation.  Others,  also  Mon- 
tana-born, have  consecrated  themselves  to  God  in  the  priesthood 
or  religion,  but  as  has  been  pointed  out  above,  subsequently  to 
the  period  covered  by  our  narrative. 

To  the  few  who  have  thus  chosen  the  better  part,  by  embracing 
the  life  of  the  Counsels,  we  now  add  those  also  who,  walking  in 
the  way  of  the  Commandments,  have  "edified  the  brethren  in 
the  faith"  by  their  thoroughly  Christian  conduct.  And  praised 
be  the  Lord!  that  their  number  is  not  limited  to  a  few  only, 
notwithstanding  the  difficulties  encompassing  the  practice  of 
religion  and  virtue  in  what  still  goes  under  the  name  of  "the 
wild  and  woolly  West."  Let  us  at  least  refer  to  such  among 
them  whose  deaths  were  as  happy  as  their  lives  were  edifying. 

True,  they  were  not  born  nor  reared  in  Montana,  but  they 
lived  among  us  for  a  number  of  years;  they  edified  us  by  their 
virtues  and  good  example,  and  if  not  from  Montana  by  birth, 
they  became  Montana's  by  death,  having  ended  their  days  in 
our  midst,  and  their  remains  reposing  in  Montana  soil.  But  as 
we  must  hasten  to  bring  our  work  to  an  ending,  we  can  refer 
to  no  more  than  three  or  four  of  these  exemplary  Christians, 
with  whose  sterling  worth  we  were  made  better  acquainted  by 


SOME  EXEMPLARY  CHRISTIANS  471 

several  years'  experience  as  their  spiritual  director.  We  here 
refer  to  Margaret  Hanratty,  Mary  Flanagan  and  Ellen  Nagle, 
three  remarkable  women,  each  of  whom  exemplified  in  herself 
the  valiant  woman  described  in  Pro.  XXXI,  and  whose  price, 
as  declared  therein,  is  as  of  things  brought  from  afar  off  and 
from  the  uttermost  coasts. 

Margaret  Louisa  Hanratty  was  born  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  Decem- 
ber 23,  1 82 1.  She  married  quite  young  and  was  left  a  widow 
after  bringing  forth  two  sons  and  one  daughter.  She  came  to 
Montana  with  the  latter,  Mrs.  C.  D.  Curtis,  in  1872,  and  died  the 
death  of  the  just  among  us,  October  13,  1882,  after  a  long  and 
painful  sickness  which  she  bore  to  the  last  with  patient,  cheerful 
endurance. 

Mary  Flanagan,  born  in  the  south  of  Ireland,  came  to  America 
in  the  thirties.  She  first  lived  in  New  York,  and  then  for  a 
time  in  Iowa.  The  fruits  of  her  marriage  were  a  son,  M.  J. 
Flanagan,  of  Fort  Benton,  and  a  daughter,  Mrs.  Mary  Power, 
the  accomplished  wife  of  Hon.  T.  C.  Power,  U.  S.  Senator  from 
our  State.  She  came  to  Montana  in  1869  and  resided  at  Fort 
Benton  with  her  daughter  for  several  years.  Later  on  she  moved 
to  Helena,  and  here,  August  14,  the  Vigil  of  the  Assumption 
of  Our  Blessed^  Lady,  went  to  her  rest.  Of  a  retiring  and  most 
unassuming  disposition,  no  one  ever  cared  less  for  the  glittering, 
but  hollow  and  empty  shams  of  life  than  she,  while  her  Catholic 
sense  was  no  less  wonderfully  keen  than  practical. 

Ellen  Healy  or  Nagle,  being  the  latter  by  marriage,  was  born 
in  Brooklyn,  New  York,  June  6,  1826.  The  family  moved  first 
to  Chicago,  when  that  metropolis  of  the  West  was  in  its  infancy, 
then  to  Beloit,  Wisconsin,  and  lastly  to  Galena,  Illinois,  where 
Ellen  married  George  Nagel,  a  worthy  son  of  Kerry,  Ireland, 
their  marriage  being  blessed  June  10,  1884,  in  St.  Michael's 
Church,  by  the  Rev.  Petiot,  the  Pastor.  Later  on,  she  passed  to 
Sinsinawa  Mound,  Wisconsin,  where  she  lived  up  to  1884,  at 
which  date  she  came  to  Montana.  Her  marriage  was  blessed 
with  ten  children,  four  sons  and  six  daughters,  two  of  the  num- 
ber, a  boy  and  a  girl,  dying  in  their  infancy.  Two  of  her  sons 
and  five  daughters  live  in  our  midst  and  are  well  and  favorably 
known  by  the  whole  community. 

She  passed  away  in  this  city  November  22,  1890,  going  to 
join  her  husband,  whom  she  laid  to  rest  November  22,   1888, 


472        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

just  two  years  before.  The  just  that  walketh  in  his  simplicity 
shall  leave  behind  him  blessed  children;*  words  of  Holy  Writ, 
which  could  well  be  applied  to  George  and  Ellen  Nagle  and  to 
their  sons  and  daughters. 

The  last  we  shall  mention  is  Matilda  Galen,  whose  death 
occurred  also  in  this  city,  December  27,  1891.  She  was  born  of 
James  Gillogly  and  Ellen  Burke,  in  the  County  of  Fermanagh, 
Ireland,  September  7,  1837.  Having  married,  in  i860,  Hugh 
Galen,  the  couple  lived  for  a  while  in  Idaho,  whence  they  came 
to  Montana  in  the  fall  of  1866.  Matilda  Galen  was  a  woman 
of  sterling  worth  and  more  than  ordinary  industry,  while  her 
devotedness  to  the  cause  of  religion,  as  well  as  her  many  deeds 
of  kindliness  and  mercy  toward  the  needy  and  sorrowing  will 
ever  make  her  memory  both  revered  and  gratefully  cherished. 

And  here  we  may  well  put  on  record  the  following :  it  is  worth 
while,  throwing  as  it  does,  no  little  sidelight  on  this  part  of  our 
subject. 

Hurriedly  summoned  to  the  bedside  of  a  sick  person  some 
twenty  miles  from  Helena,  the  writer  and  the  physician,  both 
having  been  called  out  at  the  same  time,  were  riding  in  the 
same  conveyance,  the  doctor's  own  carriage.  The  physician  was 
a  leading  member  of  the  profession,  a  non-Catholic,  and  stood 
high  also  in  Masonic  circles.  "Father,"  said  he,  "I  am  glad  to 
have  your  company,  as  for  a  good  while  I  have  been  wishing  to 
meet  you."  Then  he  continued:  "I  must  tell  you,  Father,  that 
I  have  been  for  many  years  a  believer  in  total  depravity,  con- 
vinced that  there  was  not,  nor  could  there  be  among  human 
beings  such  a  thing  as  honesty  and  virtue,  so-called  virtue  being 
nothing  more  than  a  matter  of  environment  and  expediency. 
But  since  I  began  to  practise  my  profession  I  have  been  forced 
to  change  my  mind  on  the  subject,  for  I  have  found  true,  real 
virtue  among  your  Catholic  women." 

His  Eminence  Cardinal  Gibbons,  Archbishop  of  Baltimore, 
has  written  a  most  useful  and  very  popular  book,  The  Faith  of 
Our  Fathers.  Yet,  candidly,  we  are  under  the  impression  that 
not  in  Montana  only,  but  in  every  other  place  as  well,  there  would 
be  very  little  of  the  faith  of  our  fathers  but  for  the  faith  of 
our  mothers. 

*  Prov.  xx :  7. 


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Chapter  XXVIII. 

PIONEER   MISSIONERS  OF   MONTANA,   MEN   AND   WOMEN,   WHO 
LABORED  ON  THE   FIELD   BEFORE   THE   CLOSE  OF    1 89 1. 

IN  THE  last  chapter  and  elsewhere  in  these  pages,  either  in 
the  text  or  footnotes,  we  have  duly  referred  to  the  missioners, 
Fathers,  Brothers  and  Sisters,  who  labored  in  Montana  and 
died,  here  or  on  other  fields,  within  the  period  embraced  by  our 
chronicle.  But  several  of  the  pioneer  workers  ended  their  course 
later  on,  that  is,  between  1891,  the  closing  year  of  our  narrative, 
and  1913,  the  present  date  of  our  writing.  Is  it  not  meet  and 
proper  that  in  this  new  and  revised  edition  of  the  work  the  latter 
also  should  be  mentioned?  We  think  so;  and  hence  this  new 
chapter,  by  the  addition  of  which,  obviously,  so  much  of  our  sub- 
ject is  rounded  out  and  brought  nearer  to  date,  as  pointed  out  in 
the  preface  to  this  new  edition. 

The  Late  Rt.  Rev.  John  B.  Brondcl,  D.D. 

The  first,  not  in  point  of  time  but  dignity,  whose  death  we 
deeply  regret  to  have  to  chronicle,  is  the  chief  Pastor  and  the 
first  Bishop  of  the  Helena  Diocese,  the  Rt.  Rev.  John  B.  Brondel. 
He  passed  away  in  the  city  of  his  See,  November  3,  1903,  lack- 
ing only  four  months  of  being  sixty-two  years  of  age.  His 
edifying  death  was  a  befitting  close  of  a  life  of  piety  at  home 
and  in  the  Seminary,  and  of  piety  and  apostolic  zeal  in  the  priest- 
hood and  Episcopate. 

The  immediate  cause  of  his  ending  the  physicians  attributed 
to  "fatty  degeneration  of  the  heart,"  and  no  doubt  they  know 
what  that  means. 

From  the  moment  of  his  arrival  on  the  field  he  naturally 
became  the  central  figure  of  Catholicity  in  Montana,  and  much  of 
this  narrative  is  justly  devoted  to  him,  to  his  labors  and  efficient 
endeavors  toward  directing,  uplifting  and  sanctifying  the  flock 
committed  to  his  care.  We  lived  some  ten  years  under  the  same 
roof  and  in  the  closest  intercourse  with  Bishop  Brondel,  and 


474        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

what  we  have  written  of  him  and  his  work  is  all  from  personal 
knowledge  gained  during  the  time. 

We  regret  that  we  could  not  bring  this  narrative  down  to  the 
closing  days  of  his  life.  Nor  could  we  attempt  to  do  it  at  this 
date,  having  been  knocked  about  too  much  the  last  twelve  or 
fifteen  years  to  possess  the  correct  and  detailed  information 
needed  for  the  task.  This,  however,  can  matter  little  indeed,  as 
ere  long  some  abler  pen  will  doubtlessly  take  up  and  do  full 
justice  to  the  subject.* 

The  remains  of  the  departed  Prelate  were  kept  in  state  for 
several  days,  and  his  obsequies  were  attended  by  the  Metropoli- 
tan, the  Suffragans  of  the  Province,  as  well  as  by  the  Ordinary 
of  Victoria,  B.  C.  All  the  clergy  of  the  Diocese,  Seculars  and 
Regulars,  able  to  assist,  were  present,  the  writer  also  being  in 
the  number,  while  Religious  Communities  of  women  were  like- 
wise well  represented. 

The  body  was  laid  to  rest,  for  the  time  being,  in  a  brick 
vault  in  the  rear  of  the  church,  to  the  west,  and  opposite  the 
vault  containing  the  remains  of  Fathers  C.  Imoda  and  Rappag- 
liosi.  But  eventually  it  will  be  removed  to  the  new  Cathedral, 
which  our  good  Bishop  longed  to  build,  but  whose  erection  has 
been  reserved  to  his  successor,  just  as  of  old  the  building  of 
God's  Temple,  longed  after  by  King  David,  fell  not  to  him,  but 
to  King  Solomon. 

In  wordly  goods  Bishop  Brondel  was  a  poor  man;  his  personal 
funds  at  the  time  of  his  death  amounted  to  just  five  dollars. 
Hence  while  he  had  not  wherewith  to  pay  for  his  medical  assist- 
ance in  his  last  sickness,  his  funeral  expenses,  together  with  the 
undertaker's  bill  for  his  burial,  were  all  defrayed  by  one  of  his 
flock,  Thomas  Cruse. 

Nor  was  the  good  Bishop  always  well  understood  in  life  by 
some  of  his  charges,  particularly  such  as  were  unable  to  dis- 
tinguish between  the  high  dignity  he  was  invested  with  and  the 
man,  that  is,  his  own  individual  personality.  Having  the  right 
conception  of  a  Bishop's  exalted  dignity,  he  was  also  very  par- 
ticular to  see  it  duly  respected  by  priest  and  layman.  And 
indeed  the  sacred  character  of  a  Bishop  is  so  high  that  any 

*A  life  of  Bishop  Brondel  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  Monsignor  Victor  Day,  Vicar 
General  of  the  Diocese  of  Helena,  is  in  preparation. 


PIONEER  MISS10NERS   OF  MONTANA  475 

respect  paid  to  it  can  hardly  be  too  much.     Who,  then,  could 
blame  him  for  his  being-  sensitive  to  a  nicety  on  the  point? 

But  if  somewhat  touchy  about  the  dignity  of  his  office,  he 
showed  little  concern  with  regard  to  himself  and  his  own  person, 
as  he  would  readily  and  even  cheerfully  put  up  with  any  inatten- 
tion or  lack  of  deference,  accidental  or  otherwise,  toward  him  at 
anyone's  hands.  He  did  so  on  the  Missions,  when  not  seldom  he 
had  no  one  to  receive  him,  and  found  no  facility  of  transporta- 
tion. He  would  then,  as  best  he  could,  trudge  along  afoot,  a 
good  distance  at  times,  carrying  his  own  valise,  a  performance 
not  always  light  or  easy. 

In  Helena  we  often  saw  him,  conspicuous  because  of  his  tall 
silk  hat,  come  up  Broadway  on  a  draycart,  and  sitting  with  the 
drayman,  whose  outfit,  both  cart  and  horse,  were  the  object  of 
sport  and  the  laughing-stock  in  the  town.  As  if  driven  on  a 
coach-and-four  (the  automobile  had  not  yet  appeared  at  that 
date)  he  would  often  ride  from  the  foot  of  Broadway  to  the 
door  of  the  episcopal  residence  on  the  humble  conveyance. 

But  here,  between  parenthesis,  let  us  say  a  word  of  the  dray- 
man just  referred  to,  a  very  familiar  figure  in  both  the  business 
and  the  residence  parts  of  Helena  for  many  years. 

This  was  Moses  Furlong,  who  in  the  early  sixties  had  mined 
in  California,  whence  some  years  later  he  came  to  Montana,  and 
for  a  good  while  pursued  the  same  industry  in  the  gold-bearing 
gulches  in  the  vicinity  of  Helena.  When  he  could  mine  profitably 
no  longer,  he  got  himself  a  very  modest  outfit,  a  cart  and  an  old 
plug  of  a  horse,  and  went  draying,  an  occupation  at  which  he 
kept  to  the  end  of  his  life.  He  was  a  man  of  no  little  education, 
gentlemanly,  refined,  a  real  gem  in  a  rough  setting,  and  under 
the  garb  of  a  common  day-laborer,  harbored  a  king's  heart, 
with  apostolic  faith,  as  well  as  a  Daniel  O'Connell's  love  for 
his  country.  We  often  thought  that  good  Bishop  Brondel  loved 
to  ride  on  that  unseemly  vehicle  just  to  do  honor  to  the  man 
and  express  in  this  fashion  before  the  whole  community  the 
esteem  he  entertained  for  him. 

Of  our  Divine  Saviour  it  was  prophesized:  His  sepulchre 
shall  be  glorious*  Proportionately,  this  is  the  case  also  with 
all  God's  loyal  servants,  as  even  here  below  their  glory  is  usually 

*  Isaiah  xi :  21. 


4/6        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

wont  to  begin  when  they  are  dead  and  laid  away  in  their  graves. 
Hence,  it  is  no  wonder  that  whilst  Bishop  Brondel's  death  was 
sincerely  mourned  by  the  whole  Diocese,  his  memory  is  held  in 
benediction  by  all  classes  of  people. 

Passing  now  to  the  pioneer  clergy,  namely,  those  who  were 
in  the  Diocese  prior  to  the  close  of  1891,  and  after  toiling 
in  this  field  for  more  or  less  time,  were  bidden  by  the  Master 
to  rest  from  further  labor,  the  first  to  be  summoned  to  his 
repose  was  Father  John  J.  Dols.  He  passed  away  at  Great 
Falls,  May  31,  1898,  comparatively  in  the  prime  of  life,  being 
at  the  time  hardly  three  months  over  fifty  years  of  age.  A 
complication  of  troubles,  culminating  in  pneumonia,  seems  to 
have  been  the  immediate  cause  of  his  death.  He  was  assisted 
in  his  last  hours  by  Bishop  Brondel,  who  also  officiated  at  the 
funeral. 

The  next  to  go  to  his  rest  was  Father  Honore  B.  Allaeys,  who 
died  in  Butte  after  a  serious  operation,  undergone  in  the  fore- 
part of  August,  1903.  He  was  buried  on  the  nth  of  the  same 
month,  being  a  little  over  fifty-five  when  he  died. 

The  third  and  last  of  the  pioneer  priests  of  the  Diocese  to 
depart  was  Father  Charles  G.  Follet,  who  ended  his  course 
also  in  Butte  where  he  had  been  for  a  good  while  one  of  the 
assistants  at  St.  Patrick's.  Heart  trouble  seems  to  have  carried 
him  off.  He  breathed  his  last  November  3,  191 1,  being  not 
quite  forty-nine  years  of  age,  and  having  to  his  credit  twenty- 
four  years  of  active  service  in  his  Diocese. 

As  we  have  seen  in  the  course  of  our  chronicle,  these  pioneer 
missionary  priests  of  the  Helena  Diocese  have  each  played  an 
important  part  in  the  history  of  Catholicity  in  Montana.  May 
they  rest  in  peace,  and  may  our  people  never  forget  all  they 
owe  to  their  chief  pastor  and  his  co-workers,  who  either  pre- 
ceded or  followed  him  in  the  grave. 

Father  L.  S.  Tremblay,  as  we  saw  elsewhere  in  these  pages, 
left  the  Diocese  in  1888.  He  went  abroad  sometime  after,  and 
finished  his  mortal  career  at  the  Hotel  Dieu,  Paris,  October  21, 
1898. 

Father  John  J.  Venneman,  formerly  a  member  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus,  departed  this  life  whilst  in  charge  of  a  congregation 
somewhere  in  the  Middle  West.     But  we  have  nothing  at  hand 


PIONEER  MISSIONERS   OF  MONTANA  477 

in  our  present  location  wherefrom  we  may  learn  the  place  and 
date  of  his  death. 

Several  others  of  the  Helena  clergy  have  gone  likewise  the 
way  of  all  flesh  since  the  close  of  1891.  But  they  were  later 
arrivals,  that  is,  they  came,  one  and  all,  to  Montana  after  the 
closing  year  of  our  narrative.  However,  if  this  precludes  their 
being  counted  among  the  pioneer  laborers,  it  does  not  preclude 
us  from  joining  them  to  the  former  in  our  prayers.  May,  then, 
perpetual  light  shine  no  less  upon  them  than  upon  the  first 
arrivals  into  the  field! 

Father  Nicholas  Congiato,  the  Superior  of  these  Missions 
for  some  years,  finished  his  course  at  the  age  of  eighty-one, 
having  slept  in  the  Lord  at  Los  Gatos,  California,  May  10,  1897. 
His  life  in  the  Society  extended  over  sixty-two  years. 

Father  Joseph  Bandini  comes  next,  having  died  at  Spokane, 
Wash.,  February  19,  1899,  counting  then  sixty-two  years  of 
age,  forty-two  of  which  were  spent  in  the  Society.  He  passed 
much  of  his  missionary  life  in  Montana,  namely,  at  St.  Ignatius, 
St.  Mary's,  St.  Peter's  and  Holy  Family.  He  was  an  earnest 
worker,  quick  and  energetic. 

Good  Father  Bandini  would  often  say  that  he  had  never 
bathed  in  his  life  save  twice,  and  then,  too,  by  accident,  namely, 
when  on  two  different  occasions  he  missed  his  footing  in  cross- 
ing a  stream  and  fell  into  it.  He  likely  had  in  him  some  of 
the  fiber  of  Queen  Victoria,  who,  besides  being  a  great  sovereign, 
lived  to  be  an  octogenarian  despite  her  decided  aversion — as 
appears  to  be  well  authenticated  history — to  having  bathtubs 
in  her  royal  palace. 

Continuing  the  roll  of  our  departed  pioneers,  the  third  whose 
passing  away  must  now  be  recorded,  is  Father  Leopold  Van 
Gorp,  from  Turnout,  Belgium,  where  he  was  born  June  11, 
1834.  He  slept  in  the  Lord  April  7,  1905,  at  St.  Ignatius, 
pneumonia  putting  an  end  to  his  life.  Tall  in  stature,  of  noble 
mien,  graceful  carriage,  he  possessed  a  very  amiable  character, 
though  not  a  few  thought  him  too  close  a  figurer  in  temporal 
matters.  He  was  the  head  Superior  of  these  Missions  some 
seven  years,  and  of  the  seventy-one  years  of  his  life  he  passed 
fifty  in  the  Society. 

The  Indians  called  him  Kutenalko  knailks   (the  Tall  Black 


478        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

Robe).  His  frame  and  turn  of  mind  seemed  to  be  cast  in  an 
exceeding  practical  mold ;  for  he  looked  the  plain,  the  solid 
and  substantial  in  things  spiritual  as  well  as  material,  and  had 
a  horror  of  any  and  all  show  in  every  line.  Hence,  in  life  he 
could  cleverly  manage  to  hide,  to  a  great  extent,  his  sterling 
worth  as  a  Religious  under  his  uncommon  financial  ability. 
But  when  the  end  was  nigh,  his  piety  and  fervor  showed 
forth  in  all  their  strength  to  the  very  surprise  of  even  his 
confreres  who  stood  by  him  watching  his  life  ebb  away. 

Father  Peter  P.  Prando  received  his  summons  at  St.  Michael's, 
near  Spokane,  Washington,  where  he  died  in  the  Lord,  June  20, 
1906,  being  then  sixty-two,  and  forty-two  years  a  member  of 
the  Society.  He  was  born  on  New  Year's  day,  1846,  in  a 
small  town  of  the  Diocese  of  Vercelli,  Italy.  As  we  have 
seen  in  the  first  part,  he  made  a  very  efficient  and  successful 
missioner  among  the  Indian  tribes  in  Montana.  Full  of  zeal 
and  a  hard  worker,  he  was  likewise  the  possessor  of  considerable 
originality.  It  is,  doubtless,  on  this  latter  score  that  it  fell  to 
his  lot  to  be  occasionally  misunderstood  and  misjudged,  not 
only  by  this  or  that  extern,  but  also  by  some  of  the  Society, 
even  Superiors.  The  writer  himself,  time  and  again,  heard 
many  a  strange  thing  about  Father  Prando,  but  the  witnesses 
did  not  agree.  Things,  however,  will  be  cleared  up  and  set 
to  rights  in  God's  own  time,  as  we  must  all  be  manifested  and 
come  out,  one  and  all,  in  our  true  colors  to  receive  our  due. 

Father  Joseph  Guidi  appears  again  and  again  in  both  parts 
of  this  chronicle,  having  labored  a  good  while  in  Montana 
among  the  Indians  as  well  as  the  whites.  From  the  Mission 
in  the  Rocky  Mountains  he  was  transferred  to  that  of  Brazil, 
in  South  America,  where,  after  several  years'  labor  in  that 
new  field,  he  passed  away.  But  we  have  at  hand  no  particulars 
about  the  exact  spot  and  date  of  his  death. 

A  pioneer  laborer  more  recently  gone  to  his  repose  is  Father 
Aloysius  Folchi,  who  closed  his  long  missionary  life  at  Spokane, 
Washington,  where  he  passed  to  the  Lord  November  13,  1909. 
He  belonged  to  a  noble  family  of  Rome,  Italy,  and  was  born 
November  25,  1834.  He  lived  to  be  seventy-six  years  of 
age,  and  was  some  thirty  years  a  priest  when  he  entered  the 
Society,    spending  therein   the   remainder   of   his   days.      Long 


PIONEER  Ml  SSI  ONERS  OF  MONTANA  479 

before  the  Civil  War  he  had  labored  in  the  Carolinas,  where  he 
built  the  first  church  for  negroes  in  the  United  States,  and 
where  his  name  is  still  held  in  benediction.*  Some  of  his  first 
mission  work,  after  he  joined  the  Society,  was  done  in  Montana 
at  St.  Ignatius,  Frenchtown  and  Missoula.  It  is,  however,  in 
Idaho  and  Washington  where  he  labored  longest  and  where 
he  became  so  well  known  for  his  zeal  and  missionary  spirit. 

The  last  of  our  pioneer  laborers  in  Montana  to  go  to  his 
rest  was  Father  Jerome  D'Aste,  the  oldest  priest  in  the  State, 
and  the  one  who  toiled  longest  in  that  field,  his  ministry  there 
having  been  extended  close  on  half  a  century.  He  slept  in  the 
Lord  at  St.  Ignatius,  November  10,  1910,  being  then  eighty-two 
years  of  age,  and  sixty-five  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Jesus. 
He  was  found  asleep  in  real  death,  sitting  in  his  chair,  where 
a  couple  of  minutes  before  his  attendant  had  left  him  dozing. 

The  following  is  likely  the  last  letter  penned  by  Father 
D'Aste,  as  may  be  inferred  from  its  date  and  the  date  of  his 
death,  only  a  few  days  apart. 

We  had  asked  him  whether  Francis  Saxa,  the  son  of  Old 
Ignace  who  had  been  baptized  in  St.  Louis  in  1835,  as  related 
in  Part  I,  was  still  among  the  living.  Having  answered  the 
question,  the  good  Father  passes  on  to  speak  of  himself,  and 
his  words  make  it  clear  that  he  felt  his  dissolution  near  at  hand. 
This,  with  all  the  rest,  renders  his  letter  well  worth  reproducing. 
It  is  as  follows : 

St.  Ignatius,  Oct.  28,  1910. 
Rev.  and  dear  Father  : 

P.  C.  I  thank  your  Rev.  for  your  note  and  for  the  announcement 
of  your  not  distant  visit  to  the  Mission.  Old  Francois  is  not  dead, 
but  he  is  entirely  blind  and  is  living  with  his  son,  Peter,  not  far  from 
Morizeau.     He  is  pretty  old. 

When  you  will  come  you  will  find  Father  DAste  quite  changed. 
Though  apparently  looking  well,  he  is  really  a  rag.  Since  I  came 
back  from  the  Hospital  last  summer,  my  legs  refuse  to  carry  me, 
though  not  very  heavy  (about  109  pounds).  I  need  help  to  go  up 
the  steps  of  the  altar  and  to  come  down.  But  so  far,  I  can  still  say 
my  mass.  My  legs  are  getting  pretty  stiff,  the  circulation  being  very 
slow,  and  the  calves  of  the  legs  pretty  hard  and  painful.  I  was 
tormented  with  eczema  very  bad  and  I  am  afraid  if  things  continue 

*  Woodstock  Letters,  June,  1910.  .   ,  4 


480        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

in  this  way,  I  shall  be  in  a  short  time  unable  to  walk  around. 
Already  twice  I  fell  down  feeling  no  control  of  my  legs.  The  first 
time  it  happened  around  the  mill,  I  felt  unable  to  walk  and  instead 
of  going  on,  I  stepped  slowly  back,  and  meeting  in  my  way  a  small 
log,  I  fell  over  it,  but  gently  without  getting  hurt.  The  other 
time  coming  out  of  church  after  the  mass  of  nine  and  thirty,  when 
at  the  head  of  the  staircase  I  lost  control  of  my  legs  and  fell  on  the 
steps,  not  rolling  down,  however.  I  hope  God  will  grant  me  the 
grace  to  be  able  to  say  my  mass  sometime  yet.  I  was  fortunate 
to  be  able  to  go  through  my  annual  retreat  two  weeks  ago,  and  thus 
prepare  for  the  last  trip. 

And  when  shall  we  be  able  to  see  you?  Please  give  my  best 
respects  to  the  Fathers  and  Brothers,  and  to  the  Sisters  of  the 
Hospital  who  have  been  so  kind  to  me.     Pray  for  me. 

Yours  in  C, 

J.  D'Aste,  S.  J. 

Father  Jerome  D'Aste  was  a  Genoese  by  birth  and  made,  as 
we  have  seen,  no  small  part  of  the  history  of  Catholicity  in 
Montana. — Eternal  rest,  O  Lord,  grant  to  him  and  to  one 
and  all  of  these  Thy  servants! 

Passing  now  to  the  Coadjutor  Brothers,  those  among  them 
who  have  finished  their  course  are  the  following: 

James  Henneberry  and  John  Donnigan,  the  two  firstlings 
from  Montana  to  embrace  the  Religious  life,  though  they  were 
not  born  in  the  state.  The  former  departed  at  Santa  Clara, 
California,  September  25,  1896,  being  then  fifty-six  years  old, 
and  thirty  years  a  Brother.  The  latter  ended  his  life  pilgrimage 
at  De  Smet,  Idaho,  November  6,  1901,  counting  seventy-seven 
years  of  age,  and  twenty-nine  in  the  Society. 

As  can  be  gathered  from  our  narrative,  one  of  the  oldest 
pioneer  Brothers  in  Montana  was  Lucian  D'Agostino,  a 
Neapolitan,  who  also  went  to  end  his  days  at  Santa  Clara,  Calif., 
where  he  slept  in  the  Lord  April  25,  1909,  aged  eighty-one, 
and  a  Brother  in  the  Society  fifty-six  years.  He  was  a  skilled 
cabinetmaker  and  came  to  Montana  with  Father  De  Smet  in 
the  early  fifties. 

When  leaving  his  native  country  for  the  Indian  Missions  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  he  took  along  with  him  a  few  brass 
medals — half  a  dozen  or  so — which  had  on  one  side  the  likeness 
of  Francis,  the  young  and  popular  King  of  Naples  at  the  time. 


PIONEER  MISSIONERS   OF  MONTANA  481 

Those  medals  proved  the  occasion  of  some  trouble  for  the  poor 
Brother. 

One  of  the  hired  hands  at  St.  Peter's,  where  the  Brother  was 
first  stationed,  happened  to  see  them,  and  whilst  on  one  occasion 
he  traveled  with  Father  Giorda,  confided  to  the  latter  that  "the 
little  Brother  at  St.  Peter's  had  a  pile  of  gold  which  he  had 
seen  himself."  Father  Giorda  first  laughed  at  the  story;  but 
his  traveling  companion  was  so  persistent  about  "the  secret," 
that  good  Father  Giorda  directed  Father  Imoda,  the  local 
Superior  at  St.  Peter's,  to  investigate  the  matter.  Of  course, 
there  was  nothing  to  the  charge,  and  Father  Imoda  reported 
accordingly.  But  it  had  not  occurred  to  him,  nor  to  the  Brother 
either,  that  the  few  brass  medals  in  question  could  ever  be  the 
corpus  delicti;  and  so  he  did  not  even  allude  to  them  in  his 
report  to  Father  Giorda. 

Not  quite  satisfied  with  the  information  received  from  the 
local  Superior,  on  his  next  visit  to  St.  Peter's,  Father  Giorda 
took  the  Brother  in  hand  himself  to  have  him  come  out  and 
lay  things  open,  and  told  him  besides  that  he  should  make  an 
eight  days'  retreat.  At  last  it  dawned  on  the  mind  of  the 
unsophisticated  Brother  that  the  yellow  brass  medals  were  likely 
the  cause  of  the  Superior's  worry.  He  brought  them  to  Father 
Giorda,  who  at  once  understood.  The  fellow  who  had  spun 
the  yarn,  falling  again  in  Father  Giorda's  company  sometime 
after,  declared  to  him  that  "he  meant  it  all  as  a  joke  on  Jesuit 
cunning." 

One  of  them  is  Brother  Michael  Campopiano,  who  first  came 
to  Montana  in  1874,  though  he  had  been  on  the  Indian  Missions 
in  Idaho  and  Washington  since  1863.  Having  resided  six  years 
at  St.  Ignatius,  he  passed  thence  to  other  Missions,  spending  also 
a  year  at  Holy  Cross  in  Alaska.  Later  on  he  returned  to  Montana 
to  end  his  days  at  St.  Ignatius,  where  he  went  to  his  Maker,  May 
8,  1909.  He  was  then  seventy-seven  years  of  age  and  fifty-five 
years  a  Brother  in  the  Society  of  Jesus. 

The  last  pioneer  Brother  to  pass  away  was  Charles  Regis, 
whose  pious  death  occurred  also  at  St.  Ignatius,  where  he 
breathed  his  last  November  24,  191 1.  He  came  to  Montana  as 
a  nurse  to  Father  Ravalli  in  the  last  years  of  the  Father's  life. 
On  his  charge  departing,  the  good  Brother  continued  to  reside  at 


482        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

St.  Mary's,  the  companion  of  Father  D'Aste,  till  the  removal  of 
the  Flat  Heads  to  the  Jocko.  He  was  then  transferred  to  St. 
Ignatius  where  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  useful 
occupations.  He  lived  in  the  Society  forty-five  years  and  lacked 
only  three  years  from  being  an  octogenarian.  Brother  Charles 
Regis  was  a  Piedemontese  by  birth  and  together  with  a  most 
charming  simplicity,  possessed  a  heart  remarkably  kind  and 
tender.     May  he  and  all  his  departed  confreres  rest  in  peace. 

Departed  Pioneer  Sisters. 

Passing  now  to  the  departed  pioneer  workers  of  the  gentler 
sex,  and  referring  to  them  in  the  chronological  order  of  their 
coming  into  Montana,  some  of  them  belonged  to  the  Sisters  of 
Providence  from  Montreal ;  others  to  the  Leavenworth  Commu- 
nity; while  others  were  Ursulines,  and  others,  lastly,  Sisters  of 
the  Good  Shepherd.  How  soon  do  the  living  forget  their  dead ! 
Let  us  be  grateful  to  our  departed  pioneers,  enough  at  least,  to 
recall  their  names,  so  far  as  able,  and  whilst  doing  so  breathe 
forth  a  prayer  for  the  repose  of  their  souls. 

Sisters  of  Providence. 

To  them  belonged  Sister  Mary  Edward,  one  of  the  four  who 
founded  the  first  boarding  school  for  Indian  girls  in  Montana 
and  a  co-founder  with  Sister  Mary  Victor  of  St.  Patrick's,  Mis- 
soula, the  first  Sisters  Hospital  in  this  part  of  the  Northwest. 
She  departed  this  life  at  Montreal,  Canada,  February  n,  191 1. 

There,  too,  at  different  dates  ended  their  earthly  pilgrimage 
several  other  members  of  the  same  Sisterhood  who  had  also  done 
duty  in  Montana  for  more  or  less  time,  namely,  Sisters  Mary 
Peter,  Mary  Louis,  Mary  Elise  and  Sister  Joseph  of  Providence. 

Perhaps,  besides  those  here  named,  there  are  still  others  of  the 
same  Order  who  should  have  a  place  in  this  chronicle,  but  whom 
we  fail  to  recall.  If  such  should  be  the  case,  while  regretting  the 
involuntary  oversight,  we  pray  peace  to  them,  one  and  all,  as  to 
the  others. 

We  cannot  forego,  however,  adding  to  the  number  Mother 
Hilarion,  although  we  must  stretch  a  little  the  time  limit  of  our 
narrative,  as  she  came  to  Montana  some  few  months  after  1891, 
the  closing  year  of  this  account.  She  was  then  placed  in  charge 
of  St.   Clare's  Hospital,   Fort  Benton,  whence,  however,  soon 


PIONEER  M1SS10NERS   OF  MONTANA  4»3 

after,  she  passed  to  conduct  the  school  at  De  Smet,  Idaho.  But 
returning  to  Montana,  some  time  later,  she  was  placed  at  the 
head  of  the  Academy  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  Missoula,  and  in  1903 
became  Provincial. 

Whilst  visiting  the  De  Smet  School,  in  the  summer  of  1908, 
she  was  stricken  down  by  typhoid  fever,  and  died  some  three 
months  after,  October  19,  among  her  Sisters  at  Wallace,  whither 
she  had  been  taken  from  De  Smet  for  care  and  treatment.  The 
body  was  brought  to  Missoula,  the  headquarters  of  the  Province, 
and  Bishop  Lenihan,  of  Great  Falls,  assisted  at  her  funeral.  Her 
remains  were  then  laid  to  rest  in  the  cemetery  of  the  parish 
church  where  several  other  pioneers  of  the  same  Sisterhood  are 
reposing,  and  where,  though  still  in  death,  they  keep  furthering 
by  their  merits  and  the  perfume  of  their  virtues,  the  welfare  of 
Missoula,  which  owes  so  much  to  the  Sisters  of  Providence. 

Mother  Hilarion  was  a  woman  of  excellent  parts,  simple  in 
her  ways,  yet  prudent,  considerate  and  noticeably  tactful.  The 
true  religious  spirit  that  animated  her  could  be  seen  exemplified 
in  the  even  and  edifying  tenor  of  her  whole  conduct.  She  was 
of  an  amiable  and  cheerful  disposition  and  whilst  possessing  the 
confidence  and  love  of  the  members  of  the  Community,  she  was 
no  less  well  thought  of  and  respected  by  all  externs  who  came 
to  know  her. 

Sisters  of  the  Leavenworth  Community. 

The  Leavenworth  Sisterhood  counts  quite  a  number  of  mem- 
bers who  labored  in  Montana  prior  to  the  close  of  1891,  and 
were  garnered  in  His  granary  above  by  the  Heavenly  Husband- 
man since,  that  is,  between  that  date  and  1910,  or  thereabout, 
this  being  the  time-limit  of  the  present  paragraph.  We  give 
their  names,  mentioning  in  the  first  place  those  who  died  in 
Montana.    They  are  the  following: 

Sisters  Perpetua  Cummings,  M.  Gabriel  Hess,  M.  Veronica 
O'Connor,  M.  Agnes  Toole,  Evangelista  Wynn,  Louisa  Carney, 
Emilda  Devlin,  Grilla  Donahue,  Ann  Davis. 

The  two  first  died  at  St.  John's  Hospital,  Helena;  the  next 
two,  at  St.  Ann's  Hospital,  Anaconda ;  the  four  next  at  St.  James' 
Hospital,  Butte,  and  the  one  mentioned  last  at  St.  Joseph's 
Hospital,  Deer  Lodge.     They  all  repose  in  Montana  soil,  where 


484        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

some  of  their  companions,  as  previously  related,  were  already  at 
rest. 

With  the  exception  of  the  last  four,  three  of  whom  died  in 
Kansas  City,  Kans.,  and  one  in  Denver,  Colo.,  all  the  others 
named  below  passed  away  at  the  Motherhouse,  Leavenworth.* 

Pioneer  Ursulines. 

Of  the  pioneer  Ursulines  of  Montana  the  following  have  also 
been  gathered  to  Himself  by  the  Master  of  the  Vineyard,  namely, 
Sister  Helena  Noonan,  who  passed  away  at  St.  Peter's,  Febru- 
ary 2,  1890.  Here,  too,  went  to  their  repose  Sister  Veronica 
Ferris  and  Mother  Thecla.  Sister  Aurelia  Enright  finished  her 
course  at  St.  Paul  Mission  toward  the  end  of  January,  1905. 

Sister  Euphrasia  Frezal  and  Mother  Antonia  Sharpenay 
closed  their  days  at  St.  Ignatius,  the  former,  November  10,  1910, 
the  latter,  a  year  or  so  after.  They  were  both  French  exiles 
whom  the  Government  of  France  drove  away  from  their  home 
and  their  country,  and  who  found  a  hearty  welcome  among  the 
savages  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  What  a  contrast  between  the 
sincere  and  simple  conduct  of  these  untutored  children  of  the 
forest,  and  the  cant,  hypocrisy  and  heartlessness  of  infidelity, 
masquerading  under  the  garb  of  progress  and  civilization ! 

Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd. 

The  Order  of  the  Good  Shepherd  counts  also  some  of  its 
members  among  those  who  went  to  their  reward,  after  some 
years  of  service  in  this  portion  of  the  Master's  vineyard.  They 
are  the  following:  Sister  Mary  of  St.  Ann  McAlenden,  who 
lived  in  Helena  from  July,  1890,  to  June,  1899,  and  finished  her 
course  in  St.  Paul,  October  15,  1902. 

Mother  Margaret  Ward  was  the  first  in  charge  of  the  Helena 
Convent.  She,  too,  passed  away  in  St.  Paul,  January  8,  1903, 
whither  she  had  returned  from  Montana  some  ten  years  before. 
Sister  Mary  of  St.  Bonaventure  Maher,  ended  her  days  in  the 
same  Helena  Convent,  of  which  she  had  been  one  of  the  founders 

*  Mothers  Xavier  Ross,  M.  Josephine  Cantwell,  M.  Vincent  Carney,  M. 
Josepha  Sullivan,  Sisters  Pancratia  Cannon,  M.  Killian  Fleckenstein,  M.  John 
Boyle,  Gertrude  Ryan,  Ann  Joseph  Dwyer,  M.  Leo  Dempsey,  Francis  de 
Sales  Mulconery,  Joanna  Brunen,  M.  Dolores  Gleason,  Julia  Woolwoarth, 
M.  Austin,  M.  Teresa  Stanton,  Bernadette  Brown,  M.  Borgia  White,  Columba 
Normile,  M.  Alacoque  Collins. 


Da,niel  J.  Hennessy 


Thomas  Cruise 
splendid  catholic  laymen  whose  good  deeds  live  after  them 


PIONEER  MISSIONERS   OF  MONTANA  485 

and  where  she  lived   twenty-one  years.      She  returned  to  her 
Maker  April  29,  1910. 

Two  other  members  of  the  Order,  Sister  Mary  of  the  Annun- 
ciation, Coyne,  and  Sister  Mary  de  Sales,  Hampton,  died  also  in 
Helena,  the  former,  August  27,  1894,  the  latter  May  6,  1896. 
They  came  to  Montana,  one  in  1892,  the  other,  a  year  later;  that 
is  to  say,  early  enough  to  justify  our  placing  them  among  the 
pioneers,  although  they  fell  a  little  short  of  being  so. 

Whilst  these  particulars  are  from  the  respective  Communities, 
it  was  the  writer's  good  fortune  to  know  personally  every  one  of 
the  departed  mentioned  in  this  chapter  and  likewise  to  see  most 
of  them  for  years  at  work  in  their  several  capacities.  And  as  by 
fulfilling  their  different  duties  with  ability,  efficiency  and  perse- 
vering endurance,  they,  one  and  all,  glorified  God  and  advanced 
His  Kingdom  to  their  best,  they  were  also,  one  and  all,  part  and 
joint  makers  of  the  history  of  Catholicity  in  Montana  presented 
in  these  pages. 

A  few  of  the  laborers  who  came  into  the  field  at  the  first,  the 
second,  or  the  third  hour,  growing  wearied,  failed  to  put  in  their 
day,  or  dropped  off,  falling  by  the  wayside.  But  praised  be  the 
Lord !  their  number  is  very  small,  so  small,  indeed,  that  they  can 
be  counted  on  the  fingers  of  one's  hands.  We  leave  these  out, 
but,  yet,  not  without  a  fervent  prayer  that  their  meritorious 
doings  whilst  at  work  in  Montana  may  stand  them  in  good 
stead  before  the  Judgment  Seat  of  the  Master  of  the  Vineyard. 

And  now,  after  speaking  of  the  departed  pioneer  Missioners, 
let  us  make  due  reference  also  to  a  departed  pioneer  layman, 
Daniel  J.  Hennessy,  whose  exemplary  Christian  conduct  will  ever 
entitle  him  to  a  place  of  distinction  in  the  history  of  Catholicity 
in  Montana. 

Daniel  J.  Hennessy. 

was  born  in  Fredericton,  New  Brunswick,  September  15,  1854. 
He  was  one  of  nine  children,  two  boys,  counting  himself,  and 
seven  girls.  While  one  of  the  latter  died  in  early  childhood,  all 
the  rest  are  left  to  mourn  his  loss.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  had 
received  what  is  commonly  known  as  a  high  school  education, 
and  soon  after  went  to  work,  first  in  a  grocery  store  and  after- 
wards in  a  dry  goods  establishment,  where  he  did  the  book- 


486        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

keeping  for  several  years  previous  to  his  coming  to  the  United 
States. 

In  the  spring  of  1879  he  started  for  Montana  with  a  com- 
panion, Thomas  L.  Martin,  who  has  since  become  so  well  known 
throughout  the  state,  and  arrived  in  Helena,  whither  three  other 
friends  of  his  had  preceded  him  the  year  before.  He  met  these 
on  his  arrival  and  the  very  first  thing  he  did  was  to  go  and 
introduce  himself  and  them  to  the  priest  in  charge,  who  happened 
to  be  the  writer.  He  was  the  spokesman  of  the  band  and  whilst 
his  words  were  a  frank  avowal  of  their  object  in  coming  to 
Montana,  which,  as  he  put  it,  was  to  seek  their  fortune  in  this 
new  country,  they  were  likewise  a  manly  profession  of  Catholic 
faith. 

The  writer  bade  one  and  all  welcome  and  Godspeed,  telling 
them,  further,  that  likely  nowhere  were  better  advantages  offered 
than  in  Montana  for  willing,  industrious  and  capable  young  men, 
as  they  showed  themselves  to  be.  He  advised  them,  besides,  not 
to  shirk  putting  their  hand  to  any  kind  of  honest  work  coming 
their  way,  however  laborious  and  humble,  till  they  should  find 
something  better  and,  above  all,  to  be  practical  Catholics  and 
ever  loyal  to  the  faith.  They  could  not  but  achieve  success,  by 
following  the  advice. 

Assenting  to  the  words  of  the  priest,  Daniel  Hennessy  made 
here  the  remark  that,  if  needed,  he  for  one  would  go  from  door 
to  door  with  a  bucksaw  to  saw  wood.  There  was  no  mistaking 
the  metal  of  the  man  from  the  ring  of  his  voice. 

Just  at  this  time  there  happened  to  be  a  want  of  harmony  in 
our  church  choir  and  the  writer  now  inquired  of  the  visitors 
whether  there  were  any  singers  among  them.  Upon  this,  Daniel 
Hennessy  pointed  to  his  companion  and  friend,  Tom  L.  Martin, 
the  tallest  in  the  bunch  and  that  gentleman  for  a  good  many  years 
since  has  been,  and  likely  is  still  today,  the  leading  tenor  and  the 
mainstay  of  the  church  choir  on  Catholic  Hill.* 

D.  Hennessy  remained  in  Helena  some  six  months,  working 
for  Richard  Lockey,  at  this  date  in  the  bakery  business.  He  then 
went  to  Butte  where  he  held  for  a  time  a  position  of  importance 
and  responsibility  with  E.  L.  Bonner  &  Company  and  soon 
demonstrated  his  uncommon  capacity  and  business  tact.     Some 

*  Mr.  Martin  has  died  since  the  above  was  written. 


PIONEER  MISS10NERS  OF  MONTANA  487 

time  later  he  started  business  for  himself  with  remarkable  suc- 
cess and  shortly  after  he  founded  "The  Hennessy  Mercantile 
Company,"  which  before  long  developed  into  one  of  the  largest 
concerns  in  the  state. 

He  was  elected  twice  to  the  Montana  Senate,  and  while  the 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Mines  and  Mining,  he  served  also 
as  a  member  of  the  Finance  and  other  important  Committees. 
He  resigned,  however,  his  official  position  before  the  end  of  the 
term,  his  large  and  ever  increasing  business  demanding  all  his 
attention. 

In  Butte,  August  25,  1897,  he  took  unto  himself  a  helpmate, 
marrying  Mary  F.  Furlong,  a  pious,  accomplished  and  most 
estimable  young  woman,  whom  the  writer  had  known  for  years, 
having  instructed  her  in  Christian  doctrine  as  a  wee  child.  The 
first  fruit  of  their  marriage,  Mary,  hardly  saw  the  earth,  God 
taking  her  to  Himself  a  few  hours  after  He  had  given  her  being. 
But  whilst  He  pleased  to  take  from  them  their  first-born,  as  if  to 
make  her  the  earnest  and  pledge  with  Him  for  the  salvation  of 
parents  and  the  rest  of  the  family,  He  blessed  their  union  with 
three  more  children,  Margaret,  Daniel  J.  and  Paul  Kirby, 
respectively,  thirteen,  eleven  and  eight  years  of  age,  as  we  are 
penning  these  lines. 

On  Monday,  January  27,  1908,  Daniel  Hennessy  was  on  his 
way  to  St.  Patrick's  Church  to  hear  the  eight  o'clock  Mass,  when 
on  Park  Street,  at  a  point  near  Jackson,  without  any  symptom  or 
sign  of  being  indisposed,  he  sank,  through  heart  failure,  and 
breathed  his  last  a  few  minutes  after.  A  sudden  ending,  surely, 
but  yet  no  less  enviable  for  that. 

Why  so?  Because  it  is  written:  The  just  man,  if  prevented 
with  death  shall  be  in  rest*  And  again  :  With  him  that  feareth 
the  Lord  it  shall  go  well  in  the  latter  end,  and  in  the  day  of  his 
death  he  shall  be  blessedj  And  further  still :  Blessed  is  the  man 
that  feareth  the  Lord.%  In  the  testimony  of  all  who  knew  him, 
Daniel  Hennessy  was  a  just  man  whom  nothing  on  earth  could 
swerve  a  hairsbreadth  from  the  path  of  strict  honesty  and  justice. 
He  was  a  God-fearing  man.     Catholic  and  non-Catholic  alike 

♦Wis.  iv. :  7. 
tPs.  iii:  1. 
%  Ecclus,  i;  15. 


488        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

could  say  of  him  that,  "zealous  devotion  marked  the  years  of  his 
whole  life";  by  which  is  made  manifest  that  the  filial  fear  of 
God  was  the  mainspring  of  his  whole  conduct. 

The  shock  felt  by  the  entire  community  at  the  sudden  taking 
away  of  Daniel  Hennessy  no  words  could  express.  The  people 
of  Butte,  especially,  mourned  and  would  not  be  comforted. 
Their  recognized  leader  in  civic  and  social  affairs  had  been 
suddenly  struck  in  their  midst.  The  friend  of  the  poor  and 
needy,  to  whom  all  might  go,  and  from  whom  no  one  ever  asked 
a  favor  in  vain,  had  departed  to  return  no  more.  His  noble 
qualities  of  mind  and  heart  and  his  whole  character  had  endeared 
him  to  every  class  of  fellow-beings.  Business  men  esteemed  him 
for  his  uprightness  and  scrupulous  integrity :  the  poor  loved  him 
for  his  kind-heartedness  and  unstinted  benefactions,  while  church 
people  praised  and  admired  him  for  his  solid  Christian  virtues 
and  manly  piety.  As  he  had  the  esteem  and  love  of  everybody 
so  his  death  was  felt  as  a  personal  sorrow  by  everybody  and 
brought  affliction  and  mourning  in  every  Butte  home.* 

As  a  religious  man  Daniel  Hennessy  set  a  sterling  example  to  all 
the  people,  for  he  never  left  his  belief  at  the  church  door,  but  carried 
it  with  him  in  his  daily  walks  and  applied  it  in  a  practical  manner. 
.  .  .  His  life  was  an  open  book  that  all  might  read,  for  in  every 
respect  he  was  a  model  citizen,  whose  career  could  be  taken  as  an 
example  by  every  youth  in  the  land. 

Thus  wrote  of  the  deceased  editors  of  the  daily  press;  thus  spoke 
of  him  non-Catholic  ministers  in  their  Sunday  sermons. 

No  man  who  has  died  in  Montana  ever  had  a  more  splendid 
tribute  of  respect  paid  to  him  than  was  given  to  Daniel  Hennessy 
by  the  citizens  of  his  town  and  state.  Hundreds  came  from 
outside  cities  to  attend  the  funeral,  and  thousands  in  the  snow  and 
zero  weather  accompanied  his  remains  to  their  resting  place  and 
with  every  one  of  them  it  was  a  last  sad  labor  of  love.     As  lips 

*  Much  of  what  appears  in  this  obituary  has  been  gleaned  from  the  Butte 
press  and  from  an  article  headed,  Mr.  Daniel  J.  Hennessy,  in  The  Apostolate, 
Dubuque,  Iowa.  The  latter  is  only  a  clipping  without  date  and  place  of 
publication,  but  from  other  indications  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  was 
written  by  one  of  the  members  of  The  Apostolate  who  at  the  time  of  Daniel 
Hennessy's  death  were  holding  a  mission  at  St.  Patrick's,  the  church  attended 
by  the  deceased. 


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PIONEER  MISSIONERS  OF  MONTANA  489 

sealed  by  death  can  grant  no  favor,  it  is  at  one's  grave  that 
friendship  and  gratitude  show  forth  best. 

It  is  rarely,  indeed,  that  a  whole  city  will  completely  suspend 
business  and  work  of  every  kind,  to  do  honor  to  a  private  citizen. 
This  is  what  Butte  did  on  the  day  of  Daniel  Hennessy's  funeral, 
spontaneously  and  with  but  a  single  .thought,  that  it  might  show 
in  some  measure  its  esteem  for  the  departed  one.  Yet,  this  mass- 
ing of  thousands  round  his  grave  cannot  equal  the  simple  testi- 
monial of  that  poor  widow  declaring:  "He  helped  me  in  my 
hour  of  need."  And  the  same  testimonial  is  repeated,  God 
knows,  by  how  many  needy  and  poor  of  Butte!  For  Daniel 
Hennessy  was  truly  the  friend  of  the  needy  and  poor.  May  his 
soul  rest  in  peace ! 

CONCLUSION. 

And  here,  kind  reader,  we  close  our  chronicle :  our  task  is 
done,  poorly,  we  know,  but  as  well  as  our  shortcomings  and 
deficiency  would  allow.  And  since  we  must  now  part  with  you 
and  our  subject,  we  can  do  so  no  better  than  by  recalling  once 
more  the  words  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  James  O'Connor  which,  though 
quoted  already  before,  are  not  only  well  worth  repeating,  but 
make  likewise  the  best  and  most  befitting  conclusion  for  our 
narrative. 

As  we  have  seen,  Bishop  O'Connor  visited  Montana  in  the 
summer  of  1877,  and  his  impressions  of  people  and  country  were 
highly  favorable.  He  wrote  us  subsequently  from  Omaha,  under 
date  of  March  31,  1879,  and  his  letter  is  still  in  our  keeping  and 
under  our  eyes,  as  we  pen  these  lines.  Speaking  therein  of 
Montana,  he  expresses  himself  as  follows : 

You  and  I  may  not  live  to  see  it,  but  the  day  is  not  distant  when 
Montana  will  become  one  of  the  most  fruitful  and  flourishing  as 
well  as  most  beautiful  portions  of  God's  vineyard;  and  this  will  be 
owing  in  great  measure  to  the  labors  and  virtues  of  those  who  have 
already  borne  there  the  burden  of  the  day  and  the  heats. 

Our  own  views  on  the  subject  coinciding  as  they  did  with 
those  of  Bishop  O'Connor,  in  concluding  the  first  edition  of 
Indian  and  White  in  the  Northwest,  we  wrote  as  follows :  "We 
have  no  doubt  whatever  that  his  forecast  and  bright  anticipations 
will  come  to  pass  and  be  fully  realized." 


490        CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA 

Now  we  must  speak  differently,  that  is,  we  must  change  the 
future  tense  to  the  past,  since  forecast  and  anticipations  have  in 
great  measure  been  fulfilled  and  have  become  an  actual  reality  in 
this  year  of  our  Lord  1922. 

We  do  not  write  the  present  history  of  the  Church  in  Montana, 
our  narrative,  as  declared  time  and  again,  coming  no  further 
down  than  the  close  of  1891.  Still,  we  are  not  precluded  from 
glancing  over  the  field  and  taking  notice  of  the  strides  which 
Catholicity  has  made  in  the  State  in  the  meanwhile.  Nor  need 
we  for  that  an  extended  historical  work,  when  a  simple  glance  at 
the  Catholic  Directory  for  the  last  few  years  will  suffice.  In  its 
tables  and  condensed  exhibits  there  is  doubtless  evidence  enough 
to  show  forth  and  substantiate  Catholicity's  progress  in  this 
portion  of  the  Lord's  vineyard  during  the  period  in  question. 

When  Bishop  O'Connor  penned  the  words  quoted  above,  the 
Catholic  population  of  Montana — which  was  still  a  Territory 
at  that  time — did  not  reach  five  thousand.  As  a  matter  of 
history,  the  western  part  belonged  to  the  Vicariate  of  Idaho, 
while  eastern  Montana  was  an  insignificant  appendage  of  the 
Vicariate  of  Nebraska.  It  is  no  less  history  that  there  were  then 
but  two  secular  priests  in  the  whole  Territory,  Father  R.  De 
Ryckere,  at  Deer  Lodge,  and  Father  F.  Kelleher,  at  Virginia 
City,  one  west,  the  other  east  of  the  main  Range ;  whilst,  as  to 
churches  with  resident  priest,  there  were  no  more  than  three  for 
the  whites,  the  Sacred  Hearts,  at  Helena ;  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception, Deer  Lodge,  and  All  Saints,  at  Virginia  City,  and  three 
for  the  Indians,  St.  Ignatius,  St.  Mary's  and  St.  Peter's.  There 
were  also  three  chapels  or  churches  without  resident  priest,  the 
one  at  Frenchtown,  St.  Joseph  in  the  Missouri  Valley  and  St. 
Mary's,  at  Laurin,  Madison  County. 

Of  Catholic  institutions,  Montana  had  then  four  small 
Hospitals,  one  in  each  of  the  following  places :  Missoula,  Helena, 
Deer  Lodge  and  Virginia  City.  It  had  also  three  Schools,  two 
for  white  children,  at  Missoula  and  Helena,  respectively,  and  one 
for  Indian  youth,  at  St.  Ignatius.  These  seven  institutions  were 
conducted  by  Sisters,  who  numbered  to,  but  not  above  thirty. 

What  is  the  showing  today,  this  year  of  grace  1922?  It  is 
placed  before  us  by  the  Catholic  Directory  of  the  same  year. 
We  have  therein   Montana  making  two  Dioceses,   the  one  of 


PIONEER  MISSIONERS   OF  MONTANA  49i 

Helena,  presided  over  by  the  Right  Reverend  John  P.  Carroll, 
D.D.,  its  second  Bishop;  and  that  of  Great  Falls,  whose  chief 
Pastor  and  first  Bishop,  is  the  Right  Reverend  Mathias  C.  Leni- 
han,  D.D. 

Adding  together  and  under  the  usual  headings  what  belongs  to 
each  of  the  two  Dioceses  separately,  we  have  the  following 
summary : 

Diocesan  Clergy  (exclusive  of  Regulars) ....         129 

Churches,  all  told 224 

Churches  with  resident  Priest 91 

Ecclesiastical  Students 54 

Religious  women,  teaching,  nursing 533 

Parochial    Schools    34 

College    1 

Academies  for  young  ladies 8 

High  Schools   6 

Hospitals    16 

Orphans'  Homes    2 

Catholic  Population   97445 

Reader,  reflect  a  moment  on  what  these  figures  tell  and  all 
they  imply ;  and  you  will  readily  admit  that  Montana  is  not  only 
on  the  way  to,  but  rapidly  becoming,  to  use  the  words  of  the 
Right  Reverend  Bishop  O'Connor,  "one  of  the  most  fruitful  and 
flourishing,  as  well  as  most  beautiful  portions  of  God's  vine- 
yard." 

It  is  written,  however:  Neither  he  that  planteth  is  anything, 
nor  he  that  watereth,  but  God,  who  giveth  the  increase*  Where- 
fore, since  the  good  done  in  the  past,  and  the  good  to  be  done  by 
Catholicity  in  Montana  in  the  future,  must  needs  be  due  to  God, 
the  source  of  any  and  all  good,  to  Him  also,  now  and  forever,  be 
the  praise,  honor  and  glory. 

*  I.  Cor.  iii :  7. 


APPENDIX 


APPENDIX 

Early  Catholicity  in  Montana. 
by  lucian  f.  la  croix. 

The  following  paper  was  placed  at  our  disposal  by  its  esteemed  author, 
one  of  the  pioneer  Catholics  of  Montana,  and  whose  name  has  been  mentioned 
several  times  in  connection  with  that  part  of  our  history  that  treats  of  the 
Helena  Mission.  It  contains  interesting  particulars  on  the  beginning  of  the 
Church  in  Helena  and  on  the  coming  of  the  Sisters  of  Leavenworth  into 
Montana,  and  throwing  as  it  does  additional  light  on  these  subjects,  L.  F. 
La  Croix's  paper  is  not  only  of  special  interest,  but  most  important.  Hence 
we  reproduce  it  in  its  entirety  as  a  valuable!  contribution  to  the  Early  History 
of  Catholicity  in  Montana. 

But  whilst  doing  so,  we  must  also  point  out  two  slight  inaccuracies  or  over- 
sights that  occur  therein.  The  first  inaccuracy  regards  the  time  that  Fathers 
F.  X.  Kuppens,  S.J.,  and  Jerome  D'Aste,  S.J.,  were  sent  to  Helena.  This 
was  not  September,  as  stated  by  L.  F.  La  Croix,  but  the  latter  part  of 
October.  The  other  inaccuracy  is  the  implied  assumption  that  Montana 
belonged  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop  of  Leavenworth,  whereas  Helena 
and  the  whole  of  Eastern  Montana,  as  we  have  seen,  were  subject  to  the 
Vicar  Apostolic  of   Nebraska. 

L.  F.  La  Croix  wrote  his  paper,  as  he  tells  us,  some  twenty-five  years 
after  the  events  which  he  relates,  and  one's  memory  is  often  misleading  with 
regard  to  dates,  especially,  if  the  lapse  of  time  intervening  is  considerable, 
as  in  the  case  before  us.  Further,  the  ecclesiastical  organization  of  places 
is  not  often  well  understood  by  lay  people.  Hence  the  inaccuracies  here 
adverted  to,  but  which,  after  all,  are  irrelevant,  cannot  detract  from  the  other- 
wise correct  narrative  of  L.  F.  La  Croix,  and  its  historical  value. 

Nothing  better  illustrates  the  Catholicity  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
than  many  incidents  connected  with  the  foundation  of  the  Church  in 
Montana.  The  almost  fabulous  accounts  of  discoveries  of  gold  in 
that  far-away  and  unknown  region  had  attracted  people  from  every 
country  of  the  world,  and  never  was  there  a  more  heterogeneous 
gathering  of  men  than  formed  the  population  of  Montana.  Looking 
back  through  a  long  vista  of  years,  and  bringing  to  mind  the  most 
striking  characteristics  of  the  pioneers  of  this  country,  we  behold  a 
race  of  men  conspicuous  for  the  possession  of  all  the  most  shining 
virtues  that  ennoble  mankind.  With  a  rough  exterior  and  but  little 
regard  for  the  conventionalities  and  polish  of  cultured  communities, 
they  had  a  high  appreciation  of,  and  respect  for,  the  laws  of  the 
land  and  were  especially  noted  for  their  generosity,  liberality  and  love 


496  EARLY  CATHOLICITY  IN  MONTANA 

of  fair  play.  A  man  stood  upon  the  pedestal  of  his  manhood,  and 
all  recognized  the  validity  of  his  claim.  Nor  were  the  Catholics  of 
Montana  a  whit  behind  their  brethren  in  the  matter  of  civic  and 
social  virtues.  They  were  foremost  in  the  establishment  of  a  terri- 
torial government,  and  were  always  found  stauch  defenders  of  the 
law. 

In  the  city  of  Helena  was  soon  felt  the  want  and  necessity  of  a 
church  and  the  ministrations  of  a  pastor.  There  was  prevalent  a 
rather  indistinct  idea  that  Montana  was  attached  to  the  Diocese  of 
Leavenworth,  but  the  worthy  functionary  of  that  place  had  taken 
no  concern  for  his  far-distant  children.  With  an  energy,  an  enthusi- 
asm born  of  their  love  for  Holy  Church,  they  awaited  not  the  move- 
ments of  high  dignitaries  for  the  fulfillment  of  their  desires.  Helena 
had  been  visited  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers  on  their  travels  through  the 
territory,  and  on  such  occasions  the  Holy  Mass  was  celebrated  in 
any  vacant  cabin  that  could  be  obtained  for  the  purpose ;  and  well  and 
painfully  does  the  writer  remember  the  efforts  that  were  made  to 
cover  the  rough,  unplastered  walls,  and  to  give  a  decent  appearance 
to  the  rude  dry-goods  .box  that  was  to  serve  as  an  altar  for  the  sac- 
rifice of  the  God-Man. 

It  was  known  that  a  piece  of  ground  had  been  staked  off  by 
Governor  T.  F.  Meagher  for  the  church.  A  committee  had  been 
appointed  to  look  up  the  ground.  Accordingly,  they  proceeded  up 
Broadway  to  a  point  opposite  the  present  Court  House,  when  they 
discovered  that  access  to  the  church  ground  was  interfered  with  by  a 
fence  extending  along  the  south  side  of  Broadway.  The  committee 
crossed  the  fence,  and  going  to  the  building,  then  occupied  by  the 
Gazette  printing  office,  conducted  by  Messrs.  Wilkinson  and  Ronan, 
were  told  that  Judge  Wilkinson  owned  the  ground  enclosed  by  the 
fence.  They  represented  to  him  that  they  were  appointed  to  look 
after  the  ground  belonging  to  the  Catholic  Church,  and  that  prepara- 
tions were  in  progress  for  the  erection  at  an  early  day  of  a  church, 
but  that  they  had  just  discovered  that  access  to  their  ground  was 
blocked  by  his  fence  on  Broadway.  At  once,  taking  in  the  situation 
and  not  giving  the  speaker  time  to  finish  his  speech,  the  Judge  said, 
"Is  that  all  ?"  and  taking  an  axe  he  demolished  the  obstructing  fence 
for  a  distance  of  about  seventy-five  feet,  and  stopping  to  take  breath, 
he  said :  "Now  you  will  have  a  free  passage  to  your  church."  The 
Judge  is  not  a  Catholic,  and  his  generous  act  is  now  mentioned  after 
so  many  years  in  recognition  thereof.  Passing  on,  they  came  to  a 
small  piece  of  ground  enclosed  by  a  frail  fence.  In  those  days  it 
was  the  fence  that  was  expensive,  not  the  ground.     After  consulta- 


CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA      497 

tion,  it  was  concluded  that  the  quantity  of  ground  secured  was  not 
sufficient,  and  that  the  prospective  needs  of  the  church  required  that 
they  should  take  a  tract  of  one  hundred  feet  from  north  to  south  on 
the  summit  of  Church  Hill  and  extending  from  Ewing  Street  to 
Warren  Street;  and  the  wisdom  of  their  action  has  been  apparent 
ever  since,  as  the  ground  is  now  covered  by  the  Church,  the  Bishop's 
Residence,  St.  John's  Hospital  and  St.  Aloysius  Hall. 

The  Catholic  population  of  Helena  and  vicinity  was  estimated  at 
three  thousand,  and  so  urgent  and  unanimous  was  the  sentiment  for 
a  church  that  meetings  were  held,  the  general  want  was  discussed,  a 
subscription  was  raised  and  arrangements  were  in  progress  for  the 
building  of  the  first  Catholic  Church  in  Helena.  There  were  numer- 
ous contestants  for  the  building  of  that  church,  and  the  award  was 
made  to  John  M.  Sweeny,  who  desired  the  work,  not  for  the  money 
he  could  make  out  of  it,  but  that  he  might  gladden  his  old  mother's 
heart  that  he  was  engaged  in  building  a  Catholic  Church.  About  the 
time  the  church  was  nearing  completion  Father  F.  X.  Kuppens,  S.J., 
passed  through  Helena  on  his  way  to  St.  Ignatius,  and  he  was  con- 
sulted regarding  getting  a  priest  to  reside  permanently  in  Helena. 
The  Rev.  Father  was  fully  convinced  of  the  needs  of  the  people,  and 
advised  that  a  petition,  numerously  signed,  and  addressed  to  Father 
Grassi,  should  be  gotten  up  and  that  he  would  be  the  bearer  of  it, 
saying  at  the  same  time  that  he  would  get  a  scolding  for  doing  so. 
The  petition  is  now  carefully  preserved  among  the  archives  of  the 
church.  In  September,  1866,  Fathers  Kuppens  and  D'Aste  were 
sent  to  take  charge  of  the  new  church,  and  on  November  1  following, 
the  first  Mass  was  celebrated  in  it.  And  thus  was  accomplished  a 
work  of  which  the  pioneer  Catholics  of  Helena  may  well  be  proud, 
recognizing,  however,  the  Spirit  of  God  which  guided  them. 

The  conditions  of  the  country  at  that  time  were  such  that  serious 
accidents  were  of  frequent  occurrence,  and  the  poor  accommodations, 
offered  by  the  authorities  for  the  care  of  the  unfortunates  were  so 
striking,  that  there  arose  a  general  desire  that  Sisters  of  Charity  might 
be  invited  to  establish  a  hospital  in  Helena.  Mr.  L.  F.  La  Croix  on 
the  occasion  of  a  business  trip  to  St.  Louis  was  entrusted  with  a 
mission  to  Mother  Xavier,  Superior  of  the  Order  of  Sisters  of 
Charity,  at  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  urgently  requesting  that  Sisters 
might  be  sent  to  Helena.  In  the  month  of  January,  1867,  he  started 
from  Helena  by  stage-coach  on  a  journey  to  the  States  which  lasted 
twenty-one  days— and  this  was  then  considered  pretty  good  time. 
Exposure  to  the  cold,  the  jostling  of  the  coach  and  loss  of  sleep  dur- 
ing the  first  few  days  of  travel  made  the  journey  exceedingly  painful, 


498  EARLY  CATHOLICITY  IN  MONTANA 

but  afterwards  these  inconveniences  were  scarcely  felt.  After  arriv- 
ing at  Leavenworth  and  being  installed  for  the  night  in  a  fine  feather 
bed  in  Bishop  Miege's  residence,  the  messenger  was  wonderfully 
surprised  to  discover  that  such  an  excess  of  comfort  was  positively 
more  than  he  could  bear,  and  while  overpowered  nature  compelled 
him  to  toss  from  side  to  side  in  hope  of  winning  much-coveted  sleep, 
how  he  longed  once  more  for  a  seat  in  the  stage-coach,  that  he 
might  be  cradled  to  sleep  by  the  lunging  of  the  vehicle  as  it  whirled 
over  mountain  crags ;  of  descending  thousands  of  feet  to  the  open 
plain  below,  tossed  the  unconscious  dreamer  from  front  to  rear  and 
from  side  to  side,  finally  landing  him  on  his  head  as  the  coach 
plunged  against  the  mountain  boulder.  The  messenger,  anxious  to 
succeed  in  the  object  of  his  mission,  and  finding  the  good  Bishop 
very  averse  to  parting  with  the  Sisters,  taxed  his  ingenuity  in  offering 
arguments  to  overcome  his  objections.  But  the.  Bishop,  who  was  a 
cunning  Jesuit,  skilfully  parried  the  replies,  and  as  a  polite  French- 
man, found  no  difficulty  in  evading  the  subject  by  passing  the  cigars. 
The  good  Mother,  however,  received  the  visitor  more  cordially,  and 
expressed  herself  as  most  desirous  of  acceedingj  to  the  invitation,  but 
under  their  rules,  they  were  under  the  direction  of  Bishop  Miege, 
who  was  very  averse  to  granting  the  permission.  The  Mother  wished 
the  people  of  Helena  not  to  despair  of  having  Sisters  in  their  midst ; 
she  would  always  bear  them  in  mind,  and  would  hope  to  gratify  their 
wishes  before  very  long.  It  was  in  the  year  1869  that  the  Venerable 
Father  De  Smet  used  his  good  offices  with  the  Bishop  of  Leaven- 
worth, and  the  result  was  that  in  the  month  of  October  of  the  same 
year  the  people  of  Helena  were  gladdened  by  the  arrival  of  five  Sis- 
ters from  Leavenworth,  viz :  Sisters  Julia,  Regina,  Bertha,  Loretto, 
Mary  and  Miss  Rose  Kelly. 

In  the  twenty-five  years  that  have  elapsed  since  the  Sisters  came 
to  Helena,  the  beneficent  Providence  of  God  has  marked  their  abun- 
dant success  here  in  the  establishment  of  an  elegant  seminary  for 
young  ladies,  a  spacious  and  well-appointed  hospital  and  an  orphans' 
home. 

And  now  we  behold  accomplished  the  prophetic  utterance  of 
Father  Kuppens,  "This  rocky  hill  will  bloom  like  a  garden  of  roses." 


LETTERS  TO  THE  AUTHOR 

LETTER  OF  HON.  THOMAS  H.   CARTER. 

En  route,  North  Coast  Limited,  May  12,  1903. 

Dear  Father  Palladino, 

Today  I  have  finished  reading  your  priceless  book,  Indian  and 
White,  etc.,  for  the  second  time.  As  the  book  will  undoubtedly 
pass  through  more  editions,  I  covet  two  corrections  in  the  text 
of  future  editions. 

On  the  items  mentioned  on  pages  146  and  243,  I  made  the 
stand  for  the  Schools  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  As  you 
will  recall  on  reflection,  I  was  elected  to  succeed  Mr.  Toole  as 
Delegate  in  Congress  in  1888.  In  the  fall  of  1889  I  was  elected 
a  member  of  Congress  from  the  State,  which  was  admitted  to 
the  Union  during  my  term  as  Delegate.  The  Enabling  Act  was 
passed  during  the  closing  days  of  Mr.  Toole's  term  as  Delegate, 
but  the  State  was  actually  admitted  during  my  term  as  Delegate. 
My  term  in  the  House  as  Delegate  began  March  4,  1889,  and 
ended  October  8,  1889.  My  term  as  Representative  from  the 
State  extended  from  its  admission  to  March  4,  1891.  The 
A.  P.  A.  Society  published  a  circular,  violently  assailing  me  for 
introducing  and  pressing  the  measures  credited  to  Mr.  Toole  in 
the  book,  and  it  was  my  privilege  to  defend  the  assault  at  the 
time  it  was  made. 

Wishing  you   long   life   and   peaceful   days,   I    remain,   dear 

Father, 

Your  Affectionate  Friend, 

(Signed)     Thos.  H.  Carter. 

Rev.  L.  B.  Palladino,  S.  J., 
Missoula,  Montana. 

The  text  in  the  present  edition  has  been  corrected  in  conformity  with  the 
facts  stated  above  by  the  Hon.  gentleman. 


500  LETTERS  TO  THE  AUTHOR 

LETTER   OF   HIRAM    MARTIN    CHITTENDEN, 
MAJOR,  CORPS  OF  ENGINEERS,  U.  S.  A. 

United  States  Engineers'  Office, 

Sioux  City,  Iowa,  January  26,  1894. 

My  dear  Father: 

I  have  read  with  a  great  deal  of  interest  your  work,  Indian 
and  White  in  the  Northwest,  and  some  portion  of  it  I  have 
studied  with  care.  I  noted  a  point  in  my  reading  yesterday  about 
which  I  would  like  to  ask  further  information.  You  give  the 
names  of  Catlin's  two  Indian  pictures,  No.  207  and  208,  and 
assign  them  to  the  Flat  Head  Delegation  of  1835  to  St.  Louis.* 
This  is  very  interesting  indeed  if  true.  While  Catlin  may  be 
wrong  in  his  statement  that  he  painted  these  pictures  in  1832 
(for  as  an  authority  he  is  entirely  unreliable),  still  I  suppose 
that  we  shall  have  to  accept  his  statement  as  correct,  unless  there 
is  strong  evidence  to  the  contrary.  I  shall  appreciate  it  if  you 
will  let  me  know  what  led  you  to  give  these  two  names  to  the 
pictures. 

Has  it  ever  occurred  to  you  that  the  1831  deputation  was  not 
from  the  Flat  Head  tribe  of  the  Bitter  Root  Valley  at  all,  but 
from  the  Nez  Perces?  The  evidence  which  I  have  indicates 
quite  conclusively  that  this  was  a  separate  and  distinct  deputa- 
tion from  those  which  followed  and  had  no  connection  with 
them.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  confusion  about  these  early  mat- 
ters and  it  is  one  which  it  is  desirable  to  have  straightened  out. 

Thanking  you  for  the  favor  of  a  reply,  I  am, 

Very  truly  yours, 

(Signed)     H.  M.  Chittenden. 

To  Father  L.  B.  Palladino, 
Missoula,  Mont. 

*The  date  here  given  is  a  mistyping.    Our  date  is  1831. 


A  Correction,  inserted  after  Chapter  II  in  the  I.  Part  of  this  new  edition, 
is  due  in  great  measure  to  the  above  letter  of  Major  H.  M.  Chittenden.  We 
confidently  hope  that  the  correction  will  be  found  satisfactory. 


CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AMONG  WHITES  IN  MONTANA         501 

LETTER  OF  HIS  GRACE,  THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  ST.    PAUL. 

St.  Paul,  January  30,  1912. 

Rev.  Dear  Father : 

I  am  in  receipt  of  your  letter,  together  with  one  from  Bishop 
Carroll,  which  you  enclose  to  me. 

In  reference  to  the  matter  under  discussion,  I  shall  state  the 
facts  exactly  as  I  know  them  and  no  further,  and  for  what  I 
will  state  I  can  vouch  most  unhesitatingly. 

Shortly  after  the  Civil  War  General  Thomas  Francis  Meagher 
was  in  St.  Paul  for  several  days  while  on  his  way  to  Montana, 
where  he  had  been  sent  as  Secretary  of  the  Territorial  Admin- 
istration, and  for  the  time  being  as  acting  Governor.  He  had 
several  conversations  with  Bishop  Grace  and  myself  about  his 
plans  for  the  spread  of  Holy  Church  in  Montana.  It  was,  he 
repeatedly  said,  his  wish  to  colonize  the  territory  with  Catholics 
— drawing  principally  from  Irishmen  in  Ireland  and  Irishmen  in 
America  with  whom  naturally  his  influence  was  potent.  He  would 
at  once  take  steps  to  secure  priests  and  would  write  to  All 
Hallows'  College  in  Dublin  to  engage  there  ten  students  for 
whose  tuition  he  would  make  himself  responsible.  He  would 
furthermore,  he  added,  take  steps  to  have  a  Bishop  in  Montana. 
Bishop  Grace  told  him  that  the  mode  of  procedure  to  have  Mon- 
tana erected  to  a  Diocese  was  to  put  himself  in  communication 
with  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  under  whose  Metropolitan  juris- 
diction the  greater  portion  of  Montana  then  lay.  With  those 
purposes  of  General  Meagher  I  was  quite  conversant,  having 
heard  him  time  and  again  and  having  encouraged  him  very  much 
to  go  forward  and  become  the  great  founder  of  the  Church  in 
Montana. 

When  the  Bishops  met  in  the  Second  Plenary  Council  of  Balti- 
more— this  I  heard  from  Bishop  Grace  on  his  return  from  the 
Council,  and  again  and  again  at  latter  dates— the  Archbishop  of 
St.  Louis  stated  that  he  had  letters  from  General  Meagher  and 
Mrs.  Meagher  earnestly  requesting  the  appointment  of  a  Bishop 
for  Montana.  The  Archbishop  was  himself  quite  willing  to 
accede  to  the  request  of  General  and  Mrs.  Meagher,  and  on  the 
strength  of  their  request  urged  upon  the  Council  the  erection  of 
Montana  into  a  vicariate  apostolic.    The  Council  decided  in  favor 


502  LETTERS  TO  THE  AUTHOR 

of  the  project,  and  recommended  Very  Rev.  A.  Ravoux,  of  St. 
Paul,  for  the  new  vicariate  apostolic.  The  action  of  the  Council, 
both  as  to  the  erection  of  the  vicariate  and  the  nomination  of 
Father  Ravoux  was  ratified  in  Rome. 

I,  of  course,  do  not  know  what  statements  you  make  in  your 
history  of  the  Church  in  Montana,  but  certainly  in  your  new 
edition  you  should,  for  the  sake  of  truth,  give  full  credit  to  Gen- 
eral Meagher  and  state  that  while  of  course  the  official  act  was 
that  of  the  Council  of  Baltimore,  it  was  the  act  of  General 
Meagher  that  brought  the  attention  of  the  Council  to  Montana, 
and  induced  the  Council  to  erect  it  into  a  vicariate.  The  situa- 
tion of  the  Church  in  Montana  at  the  time  was  such  that  there 
was  nothing  in  it  to  justify  the  erection  of  the  vicariate,  but,  as 
Bishop  Grace  said  on  his  return  from  Baltimore,  confidence  was 
put  on  the  promises  and  representations  of  General  Meagher,  and 
with  those  promises  before  them  the  bishops  of  the  Council 
decided  that  they  could  do  what  otherwise  conditions  in  the  terri- 
tory would  not  have  justified. 

There  is  no  doubt  whatsoever  but  General  Meagher  carried 
out  his  plan  so  far  as  urging  upon  the  Archbishop  of  St.  Louis 
the  appointment  of  a  Bishop  to  Montana;  how  far  he  carried 
out  his  plan  in  securing  for  Montana  priests  from  the  College  of 
All  Hallows,  Dublin,  I  do  not  know  for  certain,  although  the 
talk  among  ourselves  always  was  that  he  had  in  fact  written  to 
All  Hallows  and  engaged  there  students  for  Montana. 

This  much  is  about  all  I  now  recollect  as  absolutely  certain. 
If  I  can  be  of  any  further  use  to  you  in  throwing  light  upon  the 
origins  of  the  vicariate  of  Montana,  write  to  me. 

Very  Rev.  A.  Ravoux  actually  received  his  letters  of  appoint- 
ment and  kept  them  under  consideration  for  several  months.  I 
was  charged  by  him  to  explain  matters  to  Cardinal  Simeoni — his 
reasons  being  based  entirely  on  his  health  why  he  asked  to  be 

released. 

Very  sincerely, 

(Signed)     John  Ireland. 


REFERENCES 

Amides  de  V Association  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi.  Lyon,  1832, 
et  seq. 

Annates  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi.     Lyon,  1841,  et  seq. 

The  Indian  Missions  under  the  Care  of  the  Missouri  Province  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus.     Philadelphia,  1841. 

Lewis  and  Clarke.  Travels  to  the  Sources  of  the  Missouri  River, 
etc.    Longman,  Hurst,  Rees,  Orme  and  Brown,  London,  1814. 

De  Smet.    Letters  and  Sketches,  etc.     Philadelphia,  1843. 

De  Smet  Origin,  Progress  and  Prospects  of  the  Catholic  Missions 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains.     Philadelphia,  1843. 

De  Smet.    Western  Missions  and  Missionaries.    New  York,  1859. 

Historical  Society  of  Montana  Contributions,  Vol.  I.  Helena, 
Montana,  1876. 

Shea.    Catholic  Missions,  etc.     New  York,  1881. 

Blanchet.    Notes  on  the  Oregon  Missions.    Portland,  Oregon,  1883. 

Seghers.    Pastoral  Letter.    Portland,  Oregon,  1883. 

Van  Rensselaer,  S.  J.  Sketch  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Montana. 
American  Catholic   Quarterly  Revieiv,  Philadelphia,   1887. 

P.  Ronan.  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Flathead  Indian  Nation. 
Helena,  Montana,  1890. 

E.  Mallet.  Origin  of  the  Flat  Head  Mission.  Read  before  the 
American  Catholic  Historical  Society  of  Philadelphia,  April  5,  1888. 

Shields.    Battle  of  Big  Hole.    Chicago,  1889. 

Lee  and  Frost.    Ten  Years  in  Oregon. 

Gray.    History  of  Oregon. 

History  of  Montana.    Warner,  Beers  &  Co.,  Chicago,  1885. 

Vigilante  Days  and  Ways.    Langford,  Copply  &  Co.,  Boston,  1890. 

Adventures  on  the  Columbia  River,  by  Ross  Cox.  London :  Henry 
Colburn  and  Richard  Bentley,  1831. 

Life,  Letters  and  Travels  of  Pierre  Jean  De  Smet,  S.  J.,  by  H.  M. 
Chittenden  and  A.  Talbot  Richardson  Francis  P.  Harper,  New 
York,  1905. 

The  Acquisition  of  Oregon,  by  Wm.  J.  Marshall,  Seattle,  Wash. 


504  REFERENCES 

The  Trail  of  Lewis  and  Clark,  by  Olin  D.  Wheeler.  G.  P.  Putnam's 
Sons,  New  York  and  London,  1904. 

Pioneer  Catholic  History  of  Oregon,  by  Rev.  Edwin  V.  O'Hara, 
Portland,  Oregon. 

Congressional  Record. 

Catalogues  of  the  Province  of  Turin  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  from 
1846  to  1891. 

Marriage  and  Baptismal  Records  of  Virginia  City,  Helena,  St. 
Peter's  Mission  and  other  places. 

MS.  Diary  of  Rt.  Rev.  John  B.  Brondel. 

MS.  Annual  Reports  of  the  Clergy  to  the  Ordinary. 

MS.  Notes  of  Father  Ravalli  and  other  Missionaries. 

MS.  Notes  on  St.  Mary's  Mission. 

MS.  Notes  on  the  Mission  of  St.  Peter  and  Dependencies. 


INDEX 


Absaroka  ;  see  Croivs. 

Accolti,  Father  Michael,  S.J.,  round 
Cape  Horn,  55;  local  Superior  at 
Willamette,  56;  general  Superior, 
65 ;  opens  the  Mission  of  California, 
closes  St.  Mary's,  66. 

Adventures  on  the  Columbia  River, 
by  Ross  Cox,  4. 

Agnes,  Sister  Mary,  48.,. 

Agnes,  Chief  Victor's  wife,  82. 

Alacoque,  Sister  Mary,  484. 

Alcohol  from  Camas  root,  60. 

Alder  Gulch,  Virginia  City,  306. 

Alee,  last  War  Chief  of  Flat  Heads, 
84;  Senator  Vest  and  old  chief,  167. 

Allaeys,  the  Rev.  Honore  B  ,  387,  476. 

Allard,  Charlie,  178. 

Amelo  or  Ambrose,  Flat  Head,  63. 

Anaconda,  346. 

Andreis,  Father  Francis,  S.J.,  266. 

Andrew,  first  boy  boarder,  St.  Igna- 
tius, 158. 

Angelus  Bell  and  Indians,  99. 

Ann,  Sister,  337. 

Ann  Davis,  Sister,  483. 

Ann  Joseph,  Sister,  342,  483. 

Antonia  Sharpenay,  Mother,  484. 

Assiniboines,  186 ;  miserable  and 
wretched,  231. 

Assiniboine,    Fort,    305;. 

Atelee,  or  Chief  Andrew,  163. 

Atol,  or  Adolph,  Flat  Head,  83. 

Atol,  Kalispel,  149. 

Augusta,  Sun  River,  "?02. 

Aurelia  Enright,  Ursuline,  484. 

Austin,    Sister   Mary,  484. 

Baker,  Col.,  U.  S.  A.,  and  Piegans, 

204. 
Bannack,  203,  295. 
Bandini,  Father  Joseph,   S.J.,  70,  72, 

148,  151,  157,  229,  266,  477- 
Barcelo,  Father  Peter,  S.J.,  2^6,  255, 

256. 
Bardstown,  Kentucky.  335. 
Bardwell,  W.,  321. 
Barker,  393. 
Bartholomew,     St.,     White      Sulphur 

Springs,  442. 
Basilissa,  Sister,  467. 


Basvl,  Sister  Mary,  470. 

Basin,  440. 

Batens,  the  Rev.  Francis  X.,  443. 

Batiste,  boy  boarder,   158. 

Battle,  Indian,  53. 

Bear,  in  confessional,  156. 

Bear  Gulch,  287. 

Bearmouth,  408. 

Beavers,  6. 

Beaver  Creek,  32S, 

Beckx,  Peter,  General  S.J.,  170. 

Bell,   Helena  Church,  402. 

Bell,  St.    Francis    Xavier,    Missoula, 

379- 
Benedicta,   Sister,  412. 

Benton,  Fort,  299. 

Bernadette,  Sister,  484;  see  Annie 
Brown. 

Bernard,  Sister  Mary,  412. 

Bertha,   Sister,  329,  334- 

Big  Face,  or  Paul,  32,  33;  almost 
buried  alive,  80. 

Big  Hole  Battle,  411. 

Billings,   447- 

Birch  Creek,  228. 

Birdtail  Divide  and  Rock,  209 

Births  and  deaths  among  Indians  of 
St.  Ignatius,  177. 

Blackfeet,  their  country,  185;  women 
outnumber  men,  188;  the  Blackfeet 
and  Sign  of  Cross,  190;  eager  to 
be  baptized,  191 ;  left  without  mis- 
sionary, 192. 

Blackfoot  Chief,  Irish,  189. 

Blackfoot  City,  287. 

Blaine,  James  G.,  his  gold  charm,  420. 

Blake,  J.  J.,  32r. 

Blanchet,  the  Very  Rev  F.  N.,  34,  5<>. 

Bloods,  or  Kaenna,  family  of  Black 
feet,  187. 

Boarding  school,  necessity  for  Indian 
youth,  115;  Congressional  Commit- 
tee on  subject,  116. 

Borgia,    Sister   Mary,   484. 

Boschi,  Father  John,   S.J.,  266. 

Bouchard,  Father  James,  S.J.,  455- 

Bougis,  Father  Peter,  S.J.,  229. 

Boulder,  325,  440. 

Bozeman,  325. 

Broadwater,  Col.  C.  A.,  451. 


5°6 


INDEX 


Brondel,  the  Rt.  Rev.  John  B.,  extent 

of   Silver  Jubilee,  461;  death,  473; 

not   always    well    understood,    474; 

self-mastery,  474. 
Brooks,  Henry,  218,  221,  393. 
Brown,  Miss  Annie,  469,  484. 
Brown,  Mrs.,    329. 
Browning,   229. 

Bruckert,  Father  Joseph,  S.  J.,  229. 
Brun,  Louis,  142,  295. 
Buffalo   chase,   52;    why   missionaries 

at  chase,  52. 
Buffaloes,  177. 
Bull   Lodge,   chief   of   Gros   Ventres, 

193 
Butte,  345;  first  resident  priest,  350; 

St.  Patrick's  Parochial  School,  353. 

Cabanne,  Francis,  303. 

California  and  Rocky  Mountains,  68. 

Call,  Mr.  U.  S.  S.,  and  Indian  morals, 

121 ;  on  Contract  schools,   131 ;   his 

alternative,  132. 
Camas  Prairie,  46. 
Camas  root,  4. 
Camille,  first  Indian  boy  boarder,  St. 

Ignatius,   158. 
Camp,  Father  H.,  S.J.,  305. 
Camp  Baker,  406. 
Campbell,  Fort,   see  Fort  Benton. 
Campopiano,    Brother    Michael,    S.J., 

481. 
Canestrelli,    Father    Philip,    S.J.,    162, 

181,  222. 
Canton,  Missouri  Valley,  406. 
Canyon   Ferry,   406. 
Caplice,  Miss  Catherine,  470. 
Carfagno,  Brother  Achilles,   S.J.,  70, 

152. 
Carignano,  Brother  Joseph,  S.J.,  376. 
Caron,   Mother,  363. 
Carroll,  the  Rt.  Rev.  J.  P.,  379,  436, 

491. 
Carroll,  John  B.,  S.J.,  229. 
Carroll,  Henry,    418. 
Carroll,  Mathew,   191,  300,  303. 
Carson,  Charlie,  Sun  River  Crossing, 

203. 
Carter,  Hon.  T.  H.,  159,  228,  274,  354, 

431  ;   letter  to  author,  499. 
Carter,  Miss  Margaret,  444. 
Caruana,  Father  Joseph,  S.J.,  70,  152, 

180. 
Cataldo,   Father   Joseph  M.,   S.J.,    18, 

19,  72,  228,  266,  375. 
Catlin,  George,  10,  13,  15,  2ft 
Cavanaugh,  J.   M.,  321. 
Cecilia,  Ursuline  Nun,  470. 
Cemeteries,  451. 


Champagne,  Mary,  302. 

Charles,  son  of  Old  Ignace,  25,  38. 

Chariot,  Chief  of  Flat  Heads,  85,  86; 
wronged  by  Garfield  Treaty,  87 ; 
Official  Report  on  subject,  89;  called 
to   Washington,   D.    C,   89. 

Chevers,  Thomas,  324. 

Cheyennes,  on  Tongue  River,  236 ; 
Ursulines  and  the  Rev.  Joseph  Ey- 
ler,  237;  their  arrival  at  Miles  City, 
238;  welcome  by  Bishop  Brondel, 
238;  small  number  of  converts,  and 
why,  246;  Cheyenne  orator,  248;  left 
without  priest,  248. 

Chittenden  and  Richardson,  28;  letter 
of  Major  H.  M.  Chittenden  to 
author,  500. 

Choir,  Indian  girls,  St.  Ignatius,  145. 

Choteau,  192,  289,  392. 

Christian  names,  42. 

Christmas,  first,  St.  Mary's,  44. 

Claessens,  Brother  William,  S.  J.,  37, 
47,  67,71,  79,  80. 

Clancy,  440. 

Clare,  St.  Clare's  Hospital,  see  Fort 
Benton. 

Clark,   Malcolm,  204,  303. 

Cleophas,    Sister,  467. 

Cceur  d'Alene  Mission,  54. 

Coleman,  Thomas,  344. 

Columba,  Sister,  484. 

Columbia  Falls,  388. 

Columbus  Hospital,  394. 

Commissioner  Morgan,  275. 

Compton,  Peter,  A.L.,  333. 

Confession,  ingenuity  of  Indian,  154. 

Congiato,  Father  Nicholas,  S.J.,  69, 
192.  477. 

Contract  Schools,  Indian,  145 ;  sub- 
sidies, 158,  272. 

Cooke,  Captain,  saved  through  the 
Sign  of  Cross,  191. 

Cooper,  Walter,  442. 

Coopman,  The  Rev.  Amatus  R.,  442. 

Coquart,  Father  Claude  Godfroy,  S.J., 
285. 

Coriacan  Defile,  67. 

Cornoyer,  Clement,  302. 

Corvallis,  382. 

Cox,  Ross,  3. 

Coyne,  Sister  Mary,  485. 

Croke,  The  Rev.  James,  301. 

Crops,  on  Flathead   Reservation,   178. 

Crosby,  Governor,  224. 

Cross,  Sign  of,  respected  by  Black- 
feet,  190. 

Crossman,  Adam,  317. 

Crow  Creek,  325,  406. 


INDEX 


507 


Crow  Indians,  or  Absaroka,  250;  Cos- 
mogony, 252  ;  choosing  Mission  site, 
257;  swordbearer  incident,  258; 
Crow  prayer,  262.  See  St.  Xavier's 
Mission. 

Crow  Indian  Chiefs,  250. 

Cruse,  Thomas,  444. 

Curtin,  John  C,  321. 

Curtis,  Charles  D.,  321. 

Curtis  John  H.,  32P. 

Cyrilla,  Sister  Mary,  483- 

D'Agostino,  Brother  Lucian,  S.J.,  7°, 
158,  193;  some  brass  medals,  480. 

Dahler,  Charles  L.,  323. 

Daly,  Marcus,  383. 

Damiani,  Father  Joseph,  S.J.,  222, 
223,  229. 

D'Aste,  Father  Jerome,    S.J.,   70,   72, 

84,  184,  434.  479- 

Davis,  U.  S.  Senator,  III. 

Dawson,  A.,  302. 

Day  Schools  for  Indians,  114,  144. 

Decorby,  Father,  Oblate  M.I.,  221. 

Dearborn  River,  208. 

Deer  Lodge,  origin  of  name,  338; 
wondrous  panorama,  339 ;  first  priest 
to  visit,  339.    See  De  Ryckere. 

De  Kock,  Brother  Francis,  S.J.,  193, 
194,  214. 

De  la  Motte,  Father  George,  S.J.,  184. 

Delon,  Father  Philip,  S.J.,  229. 

Demers,  The  Rev.  Modest,  34,  50. 

De  Ryckere,  The  Rev.  Remigius,  Dean 
of  secular  clergy  in  Montana,  340; 
building  churches,  3451.  See  Deer 
Lodge. 

Desiere,  The  Very  Rev.  Peter  (re- 
cently named  Monsignor  by  Pius 
X),  347;  transfened  to  Butte,  354. 

De  Smet,  Father  Peter  John,  S.J., 
answers  call  of  Flatheads,  31;  arri- 
val in  Indian  camp,  32 ;  his  greeting 
to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  34;  found- 
ing St.  Mary's  Mission,  41. 

De  Vos,  Father  Peter,  S.J.,  54. 

Diamond  City,  325,  406. 

Dictionary  of  Selish  or  Flat  Heads, 
161. 

Dillon,  Beaverhead  County,  356. 

Dillon,  Father  Francis  X.,  S.J.,  184. 

Dillon,  Miss  Annie,  444. 

Diomedi,  Father  Alexander,  S.J.,  376, 
382,  403. 

Dolores,  Sister  Mary,  483. 

Dols,  The  Rev.  John  J.,  35o,  394,  476. 

Donat,  Sister,  468. 

Donnigan,  Brother  John,  S.J.,  469,  480. 


Drew,  J.  R.,  321. 
Drexel,  The  Misses,  273. 
Driscoll,   Michael,  406. 
Drum  Lummon  mine,  444. 
Du  Charme,  Batiste,  295. 

Eberschweiler,  Father  Frederic,  S.J., 

231,  235. 
Ego,  Indian,  187. 
Elisabeth  Falls,  St.  Ignatius,  93. 
Elkhorn,  440. 
Emilda,  Sister,  483. 
Eugenie,  old  Indian  woman,  who  still 

remembers  Lewis  and  Clark,  3. 
Euphrasia  Frezal,  Ursuline  nun,  484. 
Evangelista,  Sister  Mary,  483. 

Farming,  first,  in  Montana,  59. 
Ferrero,  Bruno  and  Mrs.  Ferrero  give 

cemetery  site  to  Helena,  324. 
Feusi,  Father  Balthaser,  S.J.,  235. 
Finley  Creek,  46. 
Flaget,  The  Rt.  Rev.  Benedict  Joseph, 

Bishop    of    Bardstown,    Kentucky, 

335- 

Flanagan,  Mrs.  Mary,  471. 

Flat  Heads,  number,  bravery,  1 ;  their 
foes,  2;  good  and  bad  traits,  4", 
physical  constitution,  manners,  lan- 
guage, 5;  social  organization,  7; 
return  of  the  missionaries,  70; 
removed  to  Jocko,  77. 

Flat  Head  literature,  161. 

Fleming,  William,  318. 

Flint  Creek,  281. 

Florence,  Bitter  Root  Valley,  382. 

Folchi,  Father  Aloysius,  S.J'.,  392,  478. 

Follet,  The  Rev.  Charles  G.,  451,  476. 

Forsyth,  446. 

Fort  Benton,  303. 

Fort  Shaw,  204;  turned  into  Govern- 
ment Indian  School,  267. 

Frances  de  Sales,  Sister,  467. 

Francis  de   Sales,   Mulconery,  Sister, 

483. 

Freiler,  Dominic,  317. 

Frenchtown,  295;  blessings  and  warn- 
ings, 385;  district  school,  387. 

Furlong,  Mary  E.,  487. 

Furlong,  Moses,  47$. 

Gabriel,  Sister  Mary,  483. 
Galen,  Hugh,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  330. 
Galen,  Matilda,  472;  memorial  of,  401. 
Garfield  Treaty,  86. 
Gass,  Patrick,  3. 

Gaucher,  Peter,  13,  29;  his  safe  re- 
turn, 31. 


508 


INDEX 


Gazzoli,  Father  Gregory,  S.J.,  57,  138, 
152,  180,  211,  464. 

Gertrude,  Sister,  483. 

Gibbon,  John,  Gen.  U.  S.  A.,  411. 

Gibbons,  Cardinal,  in  Helena,  456. 

Gibson,  Mrs.,  wife  of  Col.  George 
Gibson,  75. 

Gilmour,  The  Rt.  Rev.  Richard, 
Christmas  gift  to  Bishop  Brondel, 
238. 

Giorda,  Father  Joseph,  S.J.,  Sup.,  calls 
for  laborers,  72;  secures  a  band  of 
Sisters  for  St.  Ignatius,  138;  saved 
from  drowning,  194;  captive  among 
Gros  Ventres,  195 ;  doings  at  Vir- 
ginia City,  306;  temporarily  closes 
Blackfoot  Mission,  210;  reopens 
St.  Mary's,  71 ;  death  at  De  Smet, 
Idaho,  465. 

Glendive,  446. 

Goetz,  Father  Anton,  S.J.,  57. 

Gold  Creek,  203,  286. 

Good  Shepherd  Order  in  Helena,  458; 
departed  members  of  Montana,  484. 

Grace,  The  Rt.  Rev.  Thomas  L., 
Bishop  of  St.  Paul,  Minn,  and  Gen. 
Thomas  Francis  Meagher,  291. 

Grant,  Johnnie,  339. 

Granville  Stuart,  285. 

Grasshopper  Creek,  286. 

Grassi,  Father  Urban  S.J.,  70,  230,  465. 

Gray,  John,  38. 

Gray,  W.  H,  24,  26. 

Great  Falls,  393. 

Gregory  XVI  and  Father  De  Smet, 
55;    sends    his    Papal    Blessing    to 

^  Flat  Head  chief,  82. 

Gregory  mine,  440. 

Gristmill,  first,  in  Montana,  60. 

Griva,   Father   Edward,    S.J.,    184. 

Gros.  Ventres,  186. 

Guidi,   Monsignor  John  B.,   160. 

Guidi,  Father  Joseph,  S.J.,  72,  304,  434, 
441,  478. 

Halton,  The  Rev.  J.,  448. 
Hamilton,  Brother  Robert,  S  J.,  223. 
Hamilton,  Bitter  Root  Valley,  382. 
Hampton,  Sister  Mary  de  Sales,  Good 

Shepherd,  485. 
Hangmans'  tree,  331. 
Hanratty,   Margaret  Louisa,  471. 
Harlem,  235. 

Harrick,  Brother  Patrick,  S.J  ,  469. 
Hash,  A.,  406. 
Hassard,  Thomas,  324. 
Hawkes,  Miss  Kate,  469. 
Hays,  J.  M.,  321. 


Helena — see  Last  Chance  and  whence 
name,  315;  first  church,  320;  open- 
ing of  Mission,  322;  made  an  Epis- 
copal See,  431. 

Helena,  Sister,  468. 

Helena,  Nunan,  Ursuline,  484. 

Hell's  Gate,  295,  358,  372.  See  Mis- 
soula. 

Hell's  Gate  Treaty,  95. 

Henneberry,  Brother  James,  S.J.,  469, 
480. 

Hennessy,  Daniel  J.,  485. 

Highwoods,  305. 

Hilarion,  Mother,  483. 

Hoecken,  Father  Adrian,  S.J.,  54,  93, 
95,  179,  192,  303. 

Holman,  U.  S.  Congressman,  118. 

Holy  Family  Mission  and  Schools, 
228. 

Holy    Family    Church,    Three   Forks, 

441. 
Horse  Plains,  384,  389. 
Huet,    Brother    Charles,    S.J.,   37,   54, 

466. 
Hughes,  J.  G.,  321. 
Huybrechts,  Brother  Francis,  S.J.,  55, 

466. 

Idaho,  Vicariate  of,  290 

Ignace  La  Mousee,  8 ;  instructs  Flat 
Heads,  9 ;  goes  to  St.  Louis,  to  plead 
their  cause,  25 ;  slain,  with  com- 
panions, by  Sioux,  27. 

Ignace,  Young,  7,  13,  29,  31,  38. 

Ignace,  one  of  first  boarders  at  St. 
Ignatius,  158. 

Immaculate  Conception,  Fort  Benton, 

304- 
Imoda,     Father     Camillus,     S.J.,     70, 

193.  303,  405,  453- 
Indian  diplomacy,   193;   funerals,  99; 

nature,  130. 
Ingersoll,     Robert,     and     Father     De 

Ryckere,  344. 
Insula,  Michael,  22;  piety  and  fervor, 

83. 
Ireland,  Archbishop  of  St.  Paul,  and 

Indian  Commissioner  Morgan,  267; 

letter  to  author,  501. 
Iron  Bull,  Crow  chief,  253. 
Iroquois,  affiliating  with  Flat  Heads,  8. 
Iste-hu'mate      prepared      by     Father 

Prando,  263. 

Kaenna,  or  Bloods,  187. 
Kalispel  Mission,  54;  why  moved,  90. 
Kalispel,  new  town  on  Flathead  Lake, 
388. 


INDEX 


509 


Keepeellele,  15,  19. 

Keily,  Miss  Mary,  470. 

Kelleher,  The  Rev.  Frank  J.,  313. 

Kelly,  Miss  Rose,  329. 

Killian,  Sister  Mary,  483. 

Kindergarten  for  Indians,  164. 

Kootenays,  on  Dayton  Creek,  176. 

Kuhls,  The  Rev.  Anton,  182. 

Kuppens,  Father  Francis  X.,  S.J.,  70, 
139.  l97)  says  first  Mass  in  Last 
Chance  or  Helena,  318;  sick  call  to 
Diamond  City,  3*9;  goes  to  the 
Judith  with  Gen.  T.  F.  Meagher, 
319;  first  resident  priest  in  Helena, 
321 ;  recalled  from  mountains,  326; 
notes  on  St.  Peter's  Mission,  with 
diagrams,  199. 

Lacombe,  Father  A.,  O.M.I.,  186. 
La  Croix,  Lucien  F,  321 ;   his  notes 
on    Early    Catholicity    in   Montana, 

495- 

La  Croix,  Mrs.  L.  F.,  329. 

Lalassi,  an  Indian  outlaw,  94. 

Lambaere,  The  Rev.  A.  H.,  346. 

Last  Chance  or  Helena,  315 ;  first 
Mass,  318.    See  Helena. 

Laurentia,  Sister,.  469. 

Leath,  Charles,  and  Mrs.  Leath,  318. 

Lee,  Jason,  and  party,  20. 

Lenihan,  The  Rt.  Rev.  Mathias  C, 
first  Bishop  of  Great  Falls,  491. 

Leo,  Sister  Mary,  483. 

Leo,  St.  Leo's  Church,  Lewistown,  393. 

Lewis  and  Clark,  3,  17,  393. 

Lewistown,  392. 

Lindesmith  The  Rev.  E.  W.  J.,  Chap- 
lain, U.  S.  A.,  445,  462 

Little  Bull  and  Little  Crane,  Piegan 
Indians,  224. 

Livingston,  447. 

Logan,  Fort,  406. 

L0I6  River,  named  by  Father  De 
Smet  St.  Francis  Borgia,  46. 

Lolo  or  Laurence,  writer's  Indian 
name,  154. 

Lome,  one  of  first  boarders,  St.  Ig- 
natius, 158. 

Lootens,  The  Rt.  Rev.  Louis,  first 
Vicar  Apostolic  of  Idaho,  293. 

Loretto,  Sister,  329. 

Louis  Saxa,  son  of  Old  Ignace,  149. 

Louisa,  Sister,  483. 

Lourdes,  Our  Lady  of,  Marysville, 
444. 

Mack^n,  Father  Charles,  S.J  ,  235. 
Maginnis,    Hon.    Martin,    member   of 
Subcommittee    appointed    by    Con- 


gress to  look  into  the  grievances  of 
Chief  Chariot,  88;  addresses  Cardi- 
nal Gibbons  in  Helena,  456;  greets 
Bishop  Brondel  on  occasion  of 
Jubilee,  462. 

Magnan,  Sister  Ann,  369. 

Magri,  Brother  Vincent,  S.J.,  54,  193. 

Maguire,  John,  343 ;  placed  nominally 
under  censure   by   Bishop   Brondel, 

375- 

Maher,  Sister  Mary  of  St.  Bona- 
venture,  485. 

Margaret  Ward,  Sister  of  Good 
Shepherd,  and  first  in  charge  of 
Helena  Convent,  485. 

Marriage,  why  usually  null  and  void 
among   pagan  Indians,  48. 

Marshall,  Wm.  J.,  19. 

Martha,  Sister,  470. 

Martin,  Thomas  L.,  486. 

Mary,   Sister,  329. 

Mary,   Sister,  Ursuline,  470. 

Mary  Edward,  Sister,  138,  147,  482. 

Mary  Elise.  Sister,  482. 

Mary  Joseph,  Sister,  482. 

Mary  of  the  Infant  Jesus,  Sister,  138. 

Mary  Liguori,  Sister,  412. 

Mary  Louis,  Sister,  482. 

Mary   Margaret,   Sister,  468. 

Mary  Paul,  Sister,  467. 

Mary  Teresa,    Sister,   484. 

Mary  Veronica,  Sister,  483. 

Mary  Victor,  Sister,  366,  482. 

Mary  Victor,  Sister  of  Holy  Cross, 
470. 

Mary  Xavier,  Sister,  412,  467. 

Masero,  Rose,  302. 

May  Blossoms,  161. 

McAlenden,  Sister  Mary  of  St.  Bon- 
aventure,  484. 

McAuliffe,  Miss  Margaret,  469. 

McCrea,  Finley,  and  namesake  and 
relative,  419. 

McGean,  Brother  Michael,  S.J.,  53, 
93.  466. 

McHugh,   Cornelius,  418. 

McLaughlin,  Michael,  324. 

McLoughlin,  The  Rev.  C,  C.  SS.R., 
457,  462. 

McMurray,  Annie,  149,  153. 

Meagher,  Gen.  Thomas  Francis,  at  St. 
Ignatius,  93 ;  stranded  in  blizzard, 
209;  his  endeavors  to  obtain  Bishop 
for  Montana,  291  ;  welcomes  Father 
Giorda  at  Virginia  City,  308;  dis- 
appears near  Fort  Benton,  303 ; 
obsequies,  304. 


5io 


INDEX 


Megazzini,   Brother    Pascal,    S.J.,    70, 

327. 
Menetrey,  Father  Joseph,  S.J.,  57,  93, 

176,  297,  373,  405.  _  _       „ 

Mengarini,  Father   Gregory,   S.J.,  37, 

52,  65,  78,  79. 
Meurer,  The  Rev.  C,  C.  SS.R.,  45<>. 
Miege,   The   Rt.   Rev.  John   B.,    S.J., 

328,  336,  498. 

Miehle,  Miss  Josephine,  47». 

Miles,  The  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  of  Nash- 
ville, Kentucky,  336. 

Miles  City,  445- 

Miller,  Henry,  403  • 

Millstones  from  Holland,  59. 

Miners'  Courts  of  Justice,  287. 

Missoula,  origin  and  meaning  of 
name,  357;  planning  and  securing 
site,  364;  first  Mass,  367;  real  be- 
ginning of  the  Missoula  Church, 
370;  first  baptism,  first  church  and 
priest's  house,  373;  Episcopal  visi- 
tations, 375;  new  Pastor  and  new 
church,  374;  Brother  Cangnano  s 
work,  376;  the  church  robbed,  380; 
dependencies,  382. 

Missoula  River,  named  after  St. 
Ignatius  by  Father  De  Smet,  39- 

Missouri  River,  282. 

Mitchell,  392. 

Moale,  Col,  U.  S.  A.,  detailed  to 
investigate  death  of  Father  Rap- 
pagliosi,  219. 

Modesta,  Sister,  335,  4°8- 

Montana's  topography,  climate,  re- 
sources, 281 ;  explorers  and  first 
white  settlers,  285 ;  civil  and  church 
organization,  289. 

Moran,  Thomas,  210,  211. 

Morgan,  new  system  of  Indian  edu- 
cation, 109,  166. 

Mullan,  John,  U.S.A.,  44,  69.  81,  95- 

Mullan's  Road,  first  white  settlers  in 
Montana,  286. 

Murphy,  Dennis,  324. 

Murphy,  Misses  Kate  and  Mary,  469. 

Muset,  Father  Paul,  S.J.,  184. 

Nagle,  Ellen,  nee  Healy,  471. 
Narcisse,  one  of  four  Indians  in  first 

Flat  Head  delegation  to  St.  Louis, 

10. 
Nazareth,  Sisters  of,  31$. 
Necrology,  473,  591- 
Neihart,  393- 
Nobili,  Father  John,  S.J.,  55- 

Oblates  M.  I.,  186. 


O'Connor,  The  Rt.  Rev.  James,  Vic. 
Apostolic  of  Nebraska,  visits  East- 
ern Montana,  407. 

Odille  Gignac,  Sister  of  Prov.,  368. 

O'Gorman,  The  Rt.  Rev.  James,  Vic. 
Apostolic  of  Nebraska,  322. 

O'Hara,  The  Rev.  Edwin  V.,  35- 

O'Keeffe's  Canyon,  67. 

Old  Wolf,  address  to  Bishoo  Brondel, 
24. 

Osborn,  Patrick,  324. 

Ootlashoots  of  Lewis  and  Clark,  3,  16. 

Oo-yas'-kas-it,  old  Nez  Perces  chief, 
18. 

Orphanage,  first,  in   Montana,  400. 

Owen,  Major  John,  66. 

Pablo,  Michael,  178. 

Pambrun,  Peter  C,  17. 

Pancratia,  Sister,  483. 

Parberry,  Dr.  Wm.,  442. 

Parker,  Samuel,  22. 

Parodi,  Father  Aloysius,  S.J'.,  181. 

Pascal,  94. 

Paul,  chief  of  Flat  Heads,  32.  See 
Big  Face. 

Paul,  one  of  the  four  Indians  in  the 
first  expedition  to  St.  Louis,  10. 

Paul  Miki,  Sister,  138,  146. 

Pauwelyn,  The  Rev.  Cyril,  352,  441. 

Peck,  Fort,  235. 

Perpetua,  Sister,  483. 

Philipsburg,   345. 

Piegan  war,  204. 

Pierce,  President,  and  Flat  Heads,  63. 

Pierre  Paul,  94. 

Piet,  Father  Jos.  M.,  S.J.,  235. 

Pikani  or  Piegans,  a  family  of  Black- 
feet,  185. 

Pike's  Peak,  287. 

Pilchimo,  noted  Flat  Head,  38. 

Pinasso,  181. 

Pitol,  chief  of  Kalispel,  83. 

Pius  IX  and  our  Indians,  170. 

Placida,  Sister,  337. 

Poison,  184. 

Ponte,  Father  John  B.,  S.J.,  148. 

Post,  Father  Hubert,  S.J.,  235. 

Poulin,  The  Rev.  A.  Z.,  343. 

Prairie  of  the  Mass,  31. 

Prando,  Father  Peter  P.,  222,  257,  392, 
478. 

Priest's,  Butte,  192. 

Prudhome,  Gabriel,  interpreter  of 
Father  De  Smet,  38. 

Pryor  Creek,  265. 

Quiquilzom,  181. 


INDEX 


5" 


Quinn,  Michael,  440. 

Rappagliosi,      Father      Philip,     S.J., 

apostle  of  Blackfeet,  214. 
Ravalli,  Father  Anthony,  S.J.,  55,  59- 

71. 

Raverdy,  The  Rev.  John  B.,  307. 

Ravoux,    The    Rt.    Rev.    A.,   declines 

appointment  as  Vicar  Apostolic  of 

Montana,  293. 
Razzini,  Father  James,  S.J.,  visits  St. 

Ignatius,  170. 
Rebmann,  Father  James,  S.J.,  181. 
Redemptorist  Fathers  missions  in 

Montana,  457. 
Regina,  Sister,  329,  334. 
Regis,  Brother  Charles,   S.J.,  481. 
Remi,  Sister,  138,  146. 
Remigius,   Sister  Mary,  469. 
Rene,  Father  John  B.,  S.J.,  184. 
Reynolds,  Mary,  469. 
Ronan,    Peter,   Indian  Agent,   89,  95, 

323- 
Ronan,  Mrs.,  and  Chariot's  band,  77. 
Ronantown,   184. 
Rosati,  The  Rt.  Rev.  Joseph,  Bishop 

of  St.  Louis,  11,  29. 
Rosenbaum,  H.,  408. 
Roux,  The  Rev.,  10. 

Sacred    Heart    Academy,    Missoula, 

Sacred    Heart    Academy,   Miles   City, 

446. 
"Sacred  Hearts  of  Jesus  and  Mary, 

incorrect  title,  322. 
St.  Andrew's  Church,  Granite,  346. 
St.  Ann's  Church,  Great  Falls,  393. 
St.  Ann's  Hospital,  347. 
St.  Bernard,  448. 
St.  Bartholomew,  442. 
St.  Charles,  on  Pryor  Creek,  266. 
St.  Charles  College,  Helena,  435- 
St.  Clare's  Hospital,  Fort  Benton,  305. 
St.  Francis  Xavier,  Missoula,  378. 
St.  Francis  Xavier,  on  Willamette,  56. 
St.  Helena's  Church,  450 
St.  Ignatius  Mission  and  Schools,  271. 
St.  James  Hospital,  Butte,  350. 
St.  Jerome's  Orphans'  Home,  Helena, 

309 
St.  Joachim,  Billings,  448. 
St.  John,  Boulder  Valley,  440. 
St.  John  Baptist,  Frenchtown,  387. 
St.  John  Berchmans,  175. 
St.  John's  Hospital,  Helena,  434. 
St.  Joseph,  Missouri  Valley,  406. 


St.  Joseph    Boys'     School,    Missoula, 

37i. 
St.  Joseph's  Church,  Sun  River,  392. 
St.  Joseph's     Hospital,    Deer    Lodge, 

342.  _ 
St.  Juliana,  Glendive,  446. 
St.  Louis,  287. 
St.  Labre,  see  Cheyennes;  condensed 

exhibit,  272. 
St.  Mary's,   Livingston,  448. 
St.  Mary's    Academy,    Deer    Lodge, 

343- 
St.  Mary's  Cemetery,  Missoula,  374. 
St.  Mary's    Hospital,    Virginia    City, 

313. 
St.  Mary's  Mission,  founding  of,  41 ; 

temporarily    closed,    64;    reopening, 

71  ;   final  closing.  78. 
St.  Michael,  first  church  for  whites  in 

Montana,  297. 
St.  Onge,  The  Rev.,  N.,  309. 
St.  Patrick's  Hospital,  Missoula,  371. 
St.  Patrick    Parochial    School,    Butte, 

353- 

St.  Paul,  Anaconda,  347. 

St.  Paul's   Mission,  230,  273. 

St.  Peter's  Mission,  185,  272. 

St.  Rose,  Dillon,  356. 

St.  Vincent's  Academy,  Helena,  435. 

St.  Xavier  Mission,  258;  dependency, 
266;  condensed  exhibit,  273. 

Sand  Coulee,  393. 

Sandeval,  Isidore,  303. 

Sansone,  Father  Francis,  S.J.,  2.2,7. 

Saulnier,  The  Rev.  Edmond,  10. 

Savio,  Brother  Natalis,  S.J.,  57,  466. 

Saxa,  Francis,  25,  38,  479. 

Scapulars  of  Our  Lady,  and  scoffer, 
416. 

Scalze,  Indians,  see  Kootenays. 

Scannell,  Mae,  427. 

Schuler,  Father  Herman,  S.J.,  305. 

Schultz,  Pro-Rector  of  the  American 
College,  Rome,  429. 

Seary,  Patrick,  324. 

Seghers,  The  Most  Rev.  Charles,  visi- 
tations of  Western  Montana,  375; 
part  in  Church  reorganization,  421 ; 
relieves  Jesuit  Fathers  of  charge  of 
Frenchtown  and  Missoula,  375 ; 
"Adieu,  dear  Bishop,"  422 ;  mur- 
dered in  Alaska,  423. 

Selish,  see  Flat  Heads. 

Seltis,  140. 

Shonkin,  305. 

Siksikana  or  Blackfeet,  185. 

Silver  Bow,  349. 

Silver  City  and  Silver  Creek,  317,  325. 


512 


INDEX 


Simon,  oldest  Flat  Head,  38. 
Sims,  Mrs.,  361. 

Sinielemen  Valley,  see  St.  Ignatius. 
Sisters  of  Leavenworth,  335.;  members 

who  labored  in  Montana  and  since 

gone  to  their  rest,  467,  483. 
Smith,  Jake,  son-in-law  of  Billy  Key- 

ser  or  Buffalo  Bill,  316. 
Soderini,  The  Rev.  Tiberius,  54- 
Specht,  Brother  Joseph,  S.J.,  37,  79- 
Spetlemen,  1. 
Stevens,    Gov.    Isaac,    and    the    Flat 

Heads,  63. 
Stevensville,  382. 

Stockman,  The  Very  Rev.  P.  J.,  4°9- 
Stuart,  Lord,  54. 
Sullivan,  J.  T.,  321. 
Sullivan,  Neil,  321,  326. 
Sun  River,  391. 

Sweeney,  John  M.,  257,  321,  434. 
Sweeney,  William,  434. 

Tamm,  H.,  403. 

Teltella,  Fidel,  or  the  Thunder,  83. 

Terragno,  Brother  Rochus,  S.J.,   148, 

IS2- 
Thecla,  Mother,  Ursuline  Order,  485. 

Tiernan,  J.  P.,  M.D.,  321. 

Toole,  Joseph  K.,  Gov.,  159. 

Tornielli,  Father  Filibertus,  S.J.,  228, 

305. 
Tosi,  Father  Pascal,  S.J.,  70,  180. 
Tracy,  Wm,  M.D.,  441. 
Tremblay,  The  Rev.  L.  F.,  387,  476. 
Twin  Sisters,  St.  Ignatius  Mission,  93. 

Upshaw,  R.  L.,  Indian  Agent,  249. 
Urquhart,  David.  Jr.,  224,  et  seq. 
Ursula,  Ursuline,  470. 
Ursulines,  147,  164,  237,  258,  446,  470, 
484. 

Van  den  Broeck,  The  Rev.  Victor, 

352,  446. 
van  de  Ven,  the  Rev.  H.  J.,  352,  353- 
van  der  Velden,  Father  Aloysius,  S.J., 

249. 


Van  Gorp,  Father  Leopold,  S.J.,  70, 
184,  309,  326,  333,  385,  464,  477. 

Vanzina,  Father  James,  S.J.,  70,  150, 
309,  322,  464. 

Vasta,  Father  Ignatius  A.,  S.J.,  229. 

Vaughn,  Col.  J.,  Indian  Agent,  192, 
302. 

Velder,  de,  John  B.,  traveling  com- 
panion of  Father  De  Smet,  35. 

Venneman,  The  Rev.  John  J.,  420,  440, 
446,  476. 

Vercruysse,  Father  Louis,  S.J.,  55,  180, 
463- 

Verendrye,  Pierre  Gaultier  de  la,  283. 

Veronica  Ferris,  Sister,  484. 

Vest,  Senator,  166;  interest  in  Chey- 
ennes,  244. 

Victor  or  Mitt'to,  chief  of  Flat  Heads, 
81. 

Vigilantes,  288. 

Vincent,  Mother  Mary,  336,  483. 

Virginia  City,  306;  its  falling  off,  314; 
See  Alder  Gulch. 

Vocations,  460 ;  why  few  and  rare,  468. 

Walker,  Mrs.  James,  see  Scannell. 
Walker,  Major  Robert  C,  U.  S.  A., 

220,  411. 
Ward,  Mother  Margaret,  484. 
Warl,  Frank,  415. 
Washington   Gulch,  287. 
Whaley,  Henry,  319. 
Wheeler,  Olin  D.    The  Trail  of  Lewis 

and  Clark,  16. 
White  Sulphur  Springs,  441. 
Whitman,  Dr.  Marcus,  23. 
Wickes,  440. 

Xavier,  Ross,  Mother,  335,  483. 

Yellowstone  National  Park,  447. 
Yoakum,  George,  236,  245. 

Zerbinatti,  Father  Peter,  S.J.,  54; 
death,  58. 


COLUMB.A    UN.VERS.TV    UBRAR.es 


1  290  1  199* 

BUTIER  STACKS 


